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REPORT AND TRANSACTIONS

OF THK

DEVONSHIRE ASSOCIATION

FOR

THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, LITERATURE,

AND ART.

[OKEHAMPTON, JULY, 1895.]

VOL. XXVII.

PLYMOUTH :
WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON.

1895.

[ 2 ]

The Editor is requested by the Council to make it known
to the Public, that the Committees and Authors alone are
responsible for the facts and opinions contained in their
respective Reports and Papers.

It is hoped that Members will be so good as to send to the
Editor, the Rev. W. Harpley, Clayhanger Rectory, Tiverton,
not later than 16th January, 1896, a list of any errata they
may have detected in the present volume.

'7- /r-j/"
.7 4 7* a

[ 3 ]

CONTENTS.

List of Officers

Places of Meeting, &c.

Rules .

Bye-Laws and Standing Orders

Report .

Balance-Sheet .

Property .

Selected Minutes of Council appointing Committees

President's Address

Obituary Notices — John Roberts Chanter — Edward Fisher — Winslow
Jones — William Layers — Mrs. Tanner-Davy

Fourteenth Report of the Committee on Devonshire Verbal Provin
cialisms. F. T. Elworthy

Thirteenth Report of the Committee on Devonshire Folk-Lore. P. F. S
Amery

Thirteenth Report (Second Series) of the Committee on the Climate of
Devon. P. F. S. Amery . . .

8econd Report of the Dartmoor Exploration Committee .

Okehampton Beginnings. R. N. Worth, F.o.s.

Sport on Dartmoor. W. F. Collier . • .

Okehampton Castle. R. N. Worth, f.g.s.

Recent Repairs to the Castle at Exeter. Sir J. B. Phear, ma., f.g.s.

Manors in Bratton Clovelly. Rev. T. W. Whale, m.a. .

The Devonshire Domesday. II. The Devonshire Domesday and the
Geldroll. Rev. Oswald J. Reichel, m.a., b.c.l., f.s.a.

An Enquiry as to the Genuineness of the Parish Accounts of Milton
Abbott, forjthe year 1588, as given in the Monthly Magazine, or
British Begister, for the year 1810. Rev. C. H. Taylor, m.a.

Page
5

75
81
93
113
124
137
144

165

199

CONTENTS.

Page
213

Dartmoor and the County Council of Devonshire. W. F. Collier

Samuel Stoddon. George M. Doe • . ... 222

A Short Chapter from the Story of Torbay, 1667. P. Q. Karkeek, M.R.c.8. 226

The Frosts of 1855 and 1895, as Observed at Teignmouth. W. C.

Lake, m.d. . . . . ... 234

Professorial and Amateur Research in South Devon. A. R. Hunt,

SI. A., F. L.H. , F.G.S. • . . . . • «w

Notes on the Geology of Okehampton. R. N. Worth, f.o.s. . . 297

Devonshire Briefs. Parti. T. N. Brushfield, m.d. . . .311

Sydenham. Mrs. G. H. Radford . . ... 358

The Barnstaple Parish Registers. Joseph Harper . . . 362

Domesday Identifications — The Hundreds. R. N. Worth, f.g.s. . 374

Hulham Manor. A Sketch Historical and Economic. Rev. Oswald

J. Reichel, m.a., b.c.l., f.s.a. . . ... 404

The Stone Rows of Dartmoor. Part IV. R. N. Worth, f.g.s. . . 437

Index to Personal Names in Westcote's View of Devonshire in 1630,

and his Devonshire Pedigrees. A. B. Prowse, m.d., f.r.c.8. . 443

List of Members . . . ... 487

PLATES.

Plan of Merrivale Antiquities

Plan and Bird's-eye View of Merrivale Antiquities (2 plates)
" Fallen Cromlech " at Merrivale
Barrow at Merrivale
Shapley Common Huts (4 plates)
Cupboard in Hut at Shapley
Plan of Okehampton Castle
Herring-bone Work, Exeter Castle
Athelstan's Tower, Exeter (elevation)
„ „ (section)

» » (plan)

Rev. S. and Wm. Stoddon

License of Samuel Stodden

Facsimile of Brief

Map of Hulham Manor

126

136

141

142

224

225

352

408

[ 5 ]

OFFICERS

1895-96.

Vrrftftrnt.
The Right Hon. LORD HALSBURY.

Ftrr-^rfaflimtfl.

The Worshipful the Mayor of Okehampton,
S. P. B. NEWCOMBE, Esq.

P. F. B. BELLEW, Esq.

Col. BICKFORD.

Rev. J. F. CLARKE, b.a.

C. GEEN, Esq., J.p.

W. H. HOLLEY, Esq., j.p.

J. BYERS LEAKE, Esq., j.p.

J. DUMVILLE LEES, Esq., j.p.

W. LETH BRIDGE, Esq., j.p.
C. J. C. LUXMORE, Esq.
Professor Sir F. POLLOCK, Bart.,

M.A., LL.D.

Rev. F. W. SAULEZ, m.a.

E. B. SAVILE, Esq.

Col. WHITE-THOMSON, c.b., j.p.

C. B. WOOLLCOMBE, Esq., j.p.

fton. &reaftum.
P. F. S. AMERY, Esq., j.p., Druid, Ashburton.

Son. Loral ^treasurer.
W. BURD PEARSE, Esq., Okehampton.

Ikon. Serrrtarp.
Rev. W. HARPLEY, m.a., f.c.p.s., Clayhanger, Tiverton.

fcon. Local Secretary.
J. D. PRICKMAN, Esq., Okehampton.

ACLAND, 8ie H. W. D.
AMERY, J. 8.
AMBRY, P. P. 8.
BARING-GOULD, 8.
BICKFORD, J.
BLACKLER, T. A.
BRUSHFIBLD, T. N.
BURNARD, R.
BURNS. J. 8.
CARPENTER, H. J.
CHANDLER, A.
CHAPMAN, C.
CLIFTON, BISHOP OF
CLINTON, LORD.
COLLIER, W. F.
COTTON. R. W.
COWIE, B.
DOE, O. M.
DREDGE, J. I.

Council.

ELWORTHY, F. T.
GREGORY, A. T.
HALSBURY, LORD.
HALL, T. M.
HAMILTON, A. H. A.
HAMLING, J. G.
HARPER, J.
HARPLEY, W.
HARRIS, 8. G.
HEX, F. 8.
HUDLBSTON, W. H.
HUNT, A. R.
HUTCHINSON, P. O.
KARKEEK, P. Q.
LAKE, W. C.
LONDON, BI8HOP OF
MARTIN, J. M.
PEARSE, W. B.
PHEAR, Sir J. B.
POLLOCK, Sir F.

PRICKMAN, J. D.
PROWSE, A. B.
PUNCHARD, E. G.
RADFORD, Mrs. G.
REICHEL, O. J.
ROWB, J. B.
8HAPLAND, A. E.
8HELLY, J.
8PRAGUE, F. 8.
STEBBING, T. R. R.
TAYLOR. C. H.
TROUP, Mrs.
VARWELL, P.
WEYMOUTH. R. F.
WHALE, T. W.
WINDEATT, T. W.
WOODHOU8B, H. B. 8.
WORTH, R. H.
WORTH, R. N.

[ 6 ]

PLACES OF MEETING

THE DEVONSHIRE ASSOCIATION.

Place of Meeting.

1862. Exeter

1863. Plymouth

1864. Torquay

1865. Tiverton

1866. Tavistock

1867. Barnstaple

1868. Honiton

1869. Dartmouth

1870. Devonport

1871. Bideford

1872. Exeter

1873. SlDMODTH

1874. Teignmouth

1875. Torrington

1876. a8hburton

1877. KlNGSBRIDGE

1878. Paignton

1879. Ilfraoombe
1SS0. Totnes
1881. Dawlish
1S82. Crediton

1883. Exmouth

1884. Newton Abbot

1885. Seaton

1886. St. Maryohuroh

1887. Plympton

1888. Exeter

1889. Tavistock

1890. Barnstaple

1891. Tiverton

1892. Plymouth

1893. Torquay

1894. South Molton

1895. Okehampton

President.

Sir John Bowring, ll.d., f.r.s.
C. Spence Bate, Esq., f.r.s., f.l s.
E. Vivian, Esq., m.a.

C. G. B. Daubeny, m.d., ll.d., f.r.s., Pro-
fessor of Botany, Oxford.
Earl Russell, k.g., k.q.o., f.r.s., &c
W. Pengelly, Esq., f.r.s., f.g.s.
J. D. Coleridge, Esq., q.c, m.a., m.p.
G. P. Bidder, Esq., c.e.
J. A. Froude, Esq., m.a.
Rev. Canon C. Kingsley, m.a., f.l.s., f.g.s.
Right Rev. Lord Bishop of Exeter.
Right Hon. S. Cave, m.a., m.p.
Earl of Devon.
R. J. King, Esq., m.a.
Rev. Treasurer Hawker, m.a.
Ven. Archdeacon Earle, m.a.
Sir Samuel White Baker, m.a., f.r.s., f.r.g.8.
Sir R. P. Collier, m.a.

H. W. Dyke Acland, m.a., m.d., ll.d., f.r.s.
Rev. Professor Chapman, m.a.
J. Brooking Rowe, Esq., f.s.a., f.l.s.
Very Rev. C. Merivale, d.d., d.c.l.
Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing, m.a.
R. F. Weymouth, Esq., m.a., d.lit.
Sir J. B. Phear, m.a., f.g.s.
Rev. W. H. Dallinger, ll.d., f.r.8., f.l.s., &c.
Very Rev. Dean Cowie, d.d.
W. II. Hudleston, Esq., m.a., f.r.s., f.g.s.,

f.l.s., &c.
Lord Clinton, m.a.
R. N. Worth, Esq., f.g.s.
A. H. A. Hamilton, Esq., m.a., j.f., c.c.
T. N. Brushfield, m.d.
Sir Fred. Pollock, Bart, m.a.
Lord Halsbury.

[ 7 ]

RULES.

1. The Association shall be styled the Devonshire Association
for the advancement of Science, Literature, and Art.

2. The objects of the Association are — To give a stronger
impulse and a more systematic direction to scientific enquiry in
Devonshire ; and to promote the intercourse of those who cultivate
Science, Literature, or Art, in different parts of the county.

3. The Association shall consist of Members, Honorary Members,
and Corresponding Members.

4. Every candidate for membership, on being nominated by a
member to whom he is personally known, shall be admitted by
the General Secretary, subject to the confirmation of the General
Meeting of the Members.

5. Persons of eminence in Literature, Science, or Art, connected
with the West of England, but not resident in Devonshire,
may, at a General Meeting of the Members, be elected Honorary
Members of the Association; and persons not resident in the
county, who feel an interest in the Association, may be elected
Corresponding Members.

6. Every Member shall pay an Annual Contribution of Haif-
a-guinea, or a Life Composition of Five Guineas.

7. Ladies only shall be admitted as Associates to an Annual
Meeting, and shall pay the sum of Five Shillings each.

8. Every Member shall be entitled gratuitously to a lady's ticket.

9. The Association shall meet annually, at such a time in July
and at such place as shall be decided on at the previous Annual
Meeting.

10. A President, two or more Vice-Presidents, a General
Treasurer, and one or more General Secretaries, shall be elected
at each Annual Meeting.

8 RULES.

11. The President shall not be eligible for re-election.

12. Each Annual Meeting shall appoint a local Treasurer and
Secretary, who, with power to add to their number any Members
of the Association, shall be a local Committee to assist in making
such local arrangements as may be desirable.

13. In the intervals of the Annual Meetings, the affairs of the
Association shall be managed by a Council, which shall consist
exclusively of the following Members of the Association, excepting
Honorary Members, and Corresponding Members :

(a) Those who fill, or have filled, or are elected to fill, the offices
of President, General and Local Treasurers, General and Local Secre-
taries, and Secretaries of Committees appointed by the Council.

(b) Authors of papers which have been printed in extenso in
the Transactions of the Association.

14. The .Council shall hold a Meeting at Exeter in the month
of January or February in each year, on such day as the General
Secretary shall appoint, for the due management of the affairs of
the Association, and the performing the duties of their office.

15. The General Secretary, or any four members of the Council,
may call extraordinary meetings of their body, to be held at
Exeter, for any purpose requiring their present determination, by
notice under his or their hand or hands, addressed to every other
member of the Council, at least ten clear days previously, specifying
the purpose for which such extraordinary meeting is convened.
No matter not so specified, and not incident thereto, shall be
determined at any extraordinary meeting.

16. The General Treasurer and Secretary shall enter on their
respective offices at the meeting at which they are elected; but
the President, Vice-Presidents, and Local Officers, not until the
Annual Meeting next following.

17. With the exception of the Ex-Presidents only, every
Councillor who has not attended any Meeting, or adjourned
Meeting, of the Council during the period between the close
of any Annual General Meeting of the Members and the close
of the next but two such Annual General Meetings, shall have
forfeited his place as a Councillor, but it shall be competent for
him to recover it by a fresh qualification.

18. The Council shall have power to fill any Official vacancy
which may occur in the intervals of the Annual Meetings.

19. The Annual Contributions shall be payable in advance, and
shall be due in each year on the day of the Annual Meeting.

RULES. 9

20. The Treasurer shall receive all sums of money due to the
Association ; he shall pay all accounts due by the Association after
they shall have been examined and approved ; and he shall report
to each meeting of the Council the balance he has in hand, and
the names of such members as shall be in arrear, with the sums
due respectively by each.

21. Whenever a Member shall have been three months in arrear
in the payment of his Annual Contributions, the Treasurer shall
apply to him for the same.

22. Whenever, at an Annual Meeting, a Member shall be two
years in arrear in the payment of his Annual Contributions, the
Council may, at its discretion, erase his name from the list of

members.

23. The General Secretary shall, at least one month before each
Annual Meeting, inform each member by circular of the place and
date of the Meeting.

24. Members who do not, on or before the day of the Annual
Meeting, give notice, in writing or personally, to the General
Secretary of their intention to withdraw from the Association,
shall be regarded as members for the ensuing year.

25. The Association shall, within three months after each Annual
Meeting, publish its Transactions, including the Kules, a Financial
Statement, a List of the Members, the Report of the Council, the
President's Address, and such Papers, in abstract or in extenso,
^ad at the Annual Meeting, as shall be decided by the Council.

26. The Association shall have the right at its discretion of
printing in extenso in its Transactions all papers read at the Annual
Meeting. The Copyright of a paper read before any meeting of
the Association, and the illustrations of the same which have been
provided at his expense, shall remain the property of the Author ;
hut he shall not be at liberty to print it, or allow it to be printed
elsewhere, either in extenso or in abstract amounting to as much as
one-half of the length of the paper, before the first of November,
next after the paper is read.

27. The Authors of papers printed in the Transactions shall,
within seven days after the Transactions are published, receive
twenty-five private copies free of expense, and shall be allowed to
have any further number printed at their own expense. All
arrangements as to such extra copies to be made by the Authors
with the Printers to the Association.

VOL. XXVI. B

10 RULES.

28. If proofs of papers to be published in the Transactions
be sent to Authors for correction, and are retained by them
beyond four days for each sheet of proof, to be reckoned from the
day marked thereon by the printers, but not including the time
needful for transmission by post, such proofs shall be assumed to
require no further correction.

29. Should the extra charges for small type, and types other
than those known as Roman or Italic, and for the Author's correc-
tions of the press, in any paper published in the Transactions,
amount to a greater sum than in the proportion of ten shillings
per sheet, such excess shall be borne by the Author himself, and
not by the Association ; and should any paper exceed four sheets,
the cost beyond the cost of the four sheets shall be borne by the
Author of the paper.

30. Every Member shall, within three months after each Annual
Meeting, receive gratuitously a copy of the Transactions.

31. The Accounts of the Association shall be audited annually,
by Auditors appointed at each Annual Meeting, but who shall not
be ex officio Members of the Council.

[ 11 ]

BYE-LAWS AND STANDING ORDERS.

1. In the interests of the Association it is desirable that the
President's Address in each year be printed previous to its
delivery.

2. In the event of there being at an Annual Meeting more
Papers than can be disposed of in one day, the reading of the
residue shall be continued the day following.

3. The pagination of the Transactions shall be in Arabic
numerals exclusively, and carried on consecutively, from the
beginning to the end of each volume; and the Transactions of
each year shall form a distinct and separate volume.

4. The General Secretary shall bring to each Annual Meeting
of the Members a report of the number of copies in stock of each
• Part ' of the Transactions, with the price per copy of each ' Part '
specified; and such report shall be printed in the Transactions
next after the Treasurer's financial statement.

5. The General Secretary shall prepare and bring to each
Annual Meeting brief Obituary Notices of Members deceased
during the previous year, and such notices shall be printed in the
Transactions.

6. An amount not less than 80 per cent of all Compositions
received from existing Life-Members of the Association shall be
applied in the purchase of National Stock, or such other security
as the Council may deem equally satisfactory, in the names of
three Trustees, to be elected by the Council.

7. At each of its Ordinary Meetings the Council shall deposit at
interest, in such bank as they shall decide on, and in the names of
the General Treasurer and General Secretary of the Association, all
uninvested Compositions received from existing Life-Members, all
uninvested prepaid Annual Subscriptions, and any part, or the
whole, of the balance derived from other sources which may be in
the Treasurer's hands after providing for all accounts passed for
payment at the said Meeting.

b 2

12 BYE-LAWS AND STANDING ORDERS.

8. The General Secretary, on learning at any time between the
Meetings of the Council that the General Treasurer has a balance
in hand of not less than Forty Pounds after paying all Accounts
which the Council have ordered to be paid, shall direct that so
much of the said balance as will leave Twenty Pounds in the
Treasurer's hand be deposited at Interest at the Capital and Counties
Bank, Ashburton.

9. The General Secretary shall be authorized to spend any sum
not exceeding Ten Pounds per annum in employing a clerk for
such work as he finds necessary.

10. The General Secretary shall, within one month of the close
of each Annual Meeting of the Association, send to each Member
newly elected at the said Meeting a copy of the following letter : —

Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature,

and Art.

Sir, — I have the pleasure of informing you that on the of

July, , you were elected a Member of the Association on the

nomination of

The copy of the Transactions for the current year, which will be for-
warded to you in due course, will contain the Laws of the Association.
Meanwhile I beg to call your attention to the following statements : —

(1) Every Member pays an Annual Contribution of Half a Guinea,
or a Life Composition of Five Guineas.

(2) The Annual Contributions are payable in advance, and are due
in each year on the day of the Annual Meeting.

(3) Members who do not, on or before the day of the Annual
Meeting, give notice in writing or personally to the General Secretary
of their intention to withdraw from the Association are regarded as
Members for the ensuing year.

The Treasurer's Address is — P. F. S. Amery, Esq., Druid, Ashburton.
— I remain, Sir, your faithful Servant,

Hon. Sec.

11. The reading of any Report or Paper shall not exceed twenty
minutes, or such part of twenty minutes as shall be decided by the
Council as soon as the Programme of Reports and Papers shall
have been settled, and in any discussion which may arise no speaker
shall be allowed to speak more than ten minutes.

12. Papers to be read to the Annual Meetings of the Association
must strictly relate to Devonshire, and, as well as all Reports
intended to be printed in the Transactions of the Association, and
prepared by Committees appointed by the Council, must, together
with all drawings intended to be used in illustrating them in the
said Transactions, reach the General Secretary's residence not later
than the 24th day of June in each year. The General Secretary
shall, not later than the 7th of the following July, return to the
Authors all such Papers or drawings as he may decide to be unsuit-

BYE-LAWS AND STANDING ORDERS. 13

able to be printed or to serve as illustrations in the said Transac-
tions, and shall send the residue, together with the said Eeports of
Committees, to the Association's printers, who shall return the
same so that they may reach the General Secretary's residence not
later than on the 14th day of the said July, together with a state-
ment of the number of pages each of them would occupy if printed
in the said Transactions, as well as an estimate of the extra cost of
the printing of such Tables, of any kind, as may form part of any
of the said Papers and Eeports ; and the General Secretary shall
lay the whole, as well as an estimate of the probable number of
Annual Members of the Association for the year commencing on
that day, before the first Council Meeting on the first day of the
next ensuing Annual Meeting, when the Council shall select not a
greater number of the Papers thus laid before them than will, with
the other documents to be printed in the said Transactions, make
as many sheets of printed matter as can be paid for with the sum
of 60 per cent, of the subscriptions for the year of the said
probable number of Annual Members, and any part or the whole
of such balance, not derived from Compositions of existing Life
Members, or from prepaid Annual Subscriptions, as may be lying
at interest, as well as that which may be iu the Treasurer's hands ;
this ' sum ' shall be exclusive of the extra cost of the printing of
such aforesaid Tables, which have been approved and accepted by
the Council, provided the aggregate of the said extra cost do not
exceed 6 per cent, of the said subscriptions ; exclusive also of the
printers' charge for corrections of the press ; and also exclusive of
the cost of printing an Index, a list of Errata, and such Resolu-
tions passed at the next Winter Meeting of the Council, as may be
directed to be so printed by the said Winter Meeting; and the
number of Papers selected by the Council shall not be greater than
will, with the Eeports of Committees, make a Total of 40 Eeports
and Papers.

13. Papers communicated by Members for Non-Members, and
accepted by the Council, shall be placed in the Programme below
those furnished by Members themselves.

14. Papers which have been accepted by the Council cannot be
withdrawn without the consent of the Council.

15. The Council will do their best so to arrange Papers for
reading as to suit the convenience of the authors ; but the place of
a Paper cannot be altered after the Programme has been settled by
the Council

16. Papers which have already been printed in extenso cannot be
accepted unless they form part of the literature of a question on
which the Council has requested a Member or Committee to
prepare a report.

14 BYE-LAWS AND STANDING ORDERS.

17. Every meeting of the Council shall be convened by Circular,
sent by the General Secretary to each Member of the Council not
less than ten days before the Meeting is held.

18. All Papers read to the Association which the Council shall
decide to print in extenso in the Transactions, shall be sent to the
printers, together with all drawings required in illustrating them,
on the day next following the close of the Annual Meeting at which
they were read.

19. All Papers read to the Association which the Council shall
decide not to print in extenso in the Transactions, shall be returned
to the authors not later than the day next following the close of
the Annual Meeting at which they were read; and abstracts of such
Papers to be printed in the Transactions shall not exceed one-
fourth of the length of the Paper itself, and must be sent to the
General Secretary on or before the seventh day after the close of
the Annual Meeting.

20. The Author of every Paper which the Council at any Annual
Meeting shall decide to print in the Transactions shall be expected
to pay for all such illustrations as in his judgment the said Paper
may require.

21. The printers shall do their utmost to print the Papers in tho
Transactions in the order in which they were read, and shall return
every Manuscript to the author as soon as it is in type, but not
before. They shall be returned intact, provided they are written
on loose sheets and on one side of the paper only.

22. Excepting mere verbal alterations, no Paper which has been
read to the Association shall be added to without the written
approval and consent of the General Secretary ; and no additions
shall be made except in the form of notes or postscripts,
or both.

23. In the intervals of the Annual Meetings, all Meetings of
the Council shall be held at Exeter, unless some other place shall
have been decided on at the previous Council Meeting.

24. When the number of copies on hand of any ' Part ' of the
Transactions is reduced to twenty, the price per copy shall bo
increased 25 per cent. ; and when the number has been reduced to
ten copies, the price shall be increased 50 per cent, on the original
price.

25. The Association's Printers, but no other person, may reprint
any Committee's Report printed in the Transactions of the Associa-
tion, for any person, whether a Member of the said Committee, or
of the Association, or neither, on receiving, in each case, a written
permission to do so from the Honorary Secretary of the Association,

BYE-LAWS AND STANDING ORDERS. 15

bat not otherwise; that the said printer shall pay to the said
Secretary, for the Association, sixpence for every fifty Copies of
each half sheet of eight pages of which the said Report consists ;
that any number of copies less than fifty, or between two exact
multiples of fifty, shall be regarded as fifty ; and any number of
pages less than eight, or between two exact multiples of eight,
shall be regarded as eight ; that each copy of such Reprints shall
have on its first page the words " Reprinted from the Transactions
of the Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science,

Literature, and Art for with the consent of the Council of

the Association," followed by the date of the year in which the
said Report was printed in the said Transactions, but that, with the
exception of printer's errors and changes in the pagination which
may be necessary or desirable, the said Reprint shall be in every
other respect an exact copy of the said Report as printed in the
said Transactions without addition, or abridgment, or modification
of any kind.

26. The General Secretary shall, within one month after each
Annual General Meeting, inform the Hon. Local Treasurer and the
Hon. Local Secretary, elected at the said Meeting, that, in making
or sanctioning arrangements for the next Annual General Meeting,
it is eminently desirable that they avoid and discourage everything
calculated to diminish the attendance at the General and Council
Meetings, or to disturb the said Meetings in any way.

27. The Bye-Laws and Standing Orders shall be printed after
the * Rules ' in the Transactions.

28. All resolutions appointing Committees for special service for
the Association shall be printed in the Transactions next before
the President's Address.

29. Members and Ladies holding Ladies' Tickets intending to
dine at the Association Dinner shall be requested to send their
names to the Hon. Local Secretary on forms which shall be pro-
vided ; no other person shall be admitted to the dinner, and no
names shall be received after the Monday next before the dinner.

30. Members admitted by the General Secretary during the
interval between two Annual General Meetings, and who decide
when admitted to compound for the Annual Contributions, shall
be entitled to receive the publications of the Association during
the Association's year then current, provided their compositions are
paid not later than the last day of January, but shall not be thus
entitled if their compositions are paid between that date and the
next Annual General Meeting of the Association.

[ 16 ]

REPORT OF THE COUNCIL.

As presented to the General Meeting, at Okehampton, July 30th, 1895.

The Thirty-third Annual Meeting of the Association was
held at South Molton, on Tuesday, July 31st, and following
days. A spacious suite of rooms in the Municipal Buildings
was placed at the disposal of the members, proving most
central and convenient. After a meeting of the Council,
held at 2 p.m., there was a formal reception of the Association
in the Town Hall, by Mr. Dudley J. C. Bush, in the absence
of the Mayor (Mr. A. E. Shapland) through a family bereave-
ment. Mr. Bush, on behalf of the Mayor, Aldermen, and
inhabitants of the Borough, gave a most cordial welcome to
the members of the Association, which was acknowledged by
Dr. Brushfield, the retiring President, in a few well-chosen
words.

At 4 p.m. the General Meeting was held. At 8 p.m.
Sir Frederick Pollock delivered his Introductory address
to a fairly good company, assembled in the Old Assembly
Boom.

On Wednesday, at 11 a.m., the reading and discussion of
the following Programme of Papers commenced, and was
continued until 4 p.m. There was throughout a good attend-
ance, and the discussions were well sustained.

Nineteenth Report of the Committee) . Broohiruj t^^ F« . FI s
on Scientific Memoranda . .)J' ^roofnn9 ***** *.s.A., *-"•

Twelfth Report of the Committee on \ p « « a mM~.
the Climate of Devon . . m ) * * S. Amcry.

Twelfth Report of the Committee on ) pm ]?m gt Amery,
Devonshire Folk Lore . J

Sixth Report of the Committee on Devon- ) jt Brooking Rowe, f.s. a., f.l.s.
shire Records . . . . j

^tSs&SS: Dartmo?r Erplora: } ** s- ****** «.*•

Early Days in South Molton . .UN. f Forth, f.o.s.

REPORT OF THE COUNCIL. 17

Some suggestions to aid in identifying ) « n*wald J Reiehel m a r r i
the place-names in the Devonshire \ JCeo' ^"f* J' lieichel' M-^8-0-1"

— * - \ F.8. A.

H. T. Carpenter, m.a., ll.m.

Domesday * F,S A*

Furze of Moreshead

Exploration of the HutCirclesinBroadun ) R ^ Bumard,
Ring and Broadun

Hot Circles at Tavy-Cloave .

Dartmoor for Devonshire

Rev. S. Baring-Qould, M.A.
W. F. Collier.

Index to Risdon
Personal Names

Clerical and Social Life in Devon in 1287 The Rt. Rev. Bishop Brownlow, D. D.

Chorston Ferrers and Brizham Records

of Briefs— 1722 to 1827, and 1706 Rev. S. O. Harris, m.a.
to 1766 .....

"* ^ih<>fAllS»inte,EastBndleigh) J T N Brushfield> M.D.

The Stone Rows of Dartmoor, Part iii R. N. Worth, F.o.s.

The Leoca or Lug of Domesday . . { ^>-OmwMJ. ^iclul, M.A., B.C.L.,

The Blowing -np of Great Torrington ^ a M , n
Church, 16th February, 1645 . J **' MarK Lfoe'

The Rev. Matthew Mundy, i. ii. iii. iv. Mrs. Frances B. Troup.

The Churchwardens' Accounts of East) m «r »«„,0j,^7j %, ^
Budleigh f T. N. Brushfield, m.d.

Residents in the Three Towns in 1522-3 R. N. Worth, f.g.s.

The Hundred of Hartland in the Geld ) Rev. Oswald J. Reichel, m.a., B.C. L.,
Roll . . . . . . ) F.8.A.

^Survey of Devon- j AHhyr B ^^^ M^ p R s

A List of Plants growing wild in the ) Miss Helen Saunders (communicated
Parish of South Molton and some 5 Z.^v^^^^l\
neighbouring Parishes . . . J ** *»> W* Har^^ M'A->'

In the evening, at 7 p.m., the Annual Dinner was held in
the Assembly-room of the George Hotel, covers being laid
for about fifty. The President, Sir Frederick Pollock, occupied
the chair. The dinner was excellent, and reflected much
credit on the host, Mr. S. P. Kellan.

On Thursday, at 10 a.m., the reading and discussion of
papers was resumed, and continued till about 2 p.m., when
the concluding General Meeting was held, followed by a
Meeting of the Council.

On Friday there was an excursion to the Doone Valley.
The weather was superb, and a most enjoyable day was
spent. Four breaks were provided, and these were taken in
charge by three members of the Local Committee. A start
was made at 10 o'clock from the Town Hall, and between
thirty and forty found places in the breaks. The first halt
was at North Molton ; here the members were received by

18 REPORT OF THE COUNCIL.

Dr. Spicer, and conducted over the church. The Register,
dating from 1539, was examined with interest, and the fine
old screen of carved oak was much admired. Dr. Spicer
provided a charming refection, and showed some interesting
antiquities found in a barrow in the neighbourhood. A vote
of thanks having been accorded to Dr. Spicer and his
daughter for their kind and graceful hospitality, the party
proceeded to Simonsbath. Here luncheon was indulged in.
Simonsbath Church was next visited. Beyond the fact that
the edifice is about 1200 ft. above the sea level, nothing was
found to delay the departure to the Doone Valley. A drive
to Brendon " Two-gates," and a rather trying walk of two or
three miles across the Moor, but bravely undertaken and
accomplished by the ladies present, brought the party to the
famous home of the Doones. Here the stronghold of the
Doones — Lorna's kitchen and oven, the water-slide, and
other points, real and imaginary, mentioned by Blackmore in
Zorna Docme, were noted, and a return was made to Simons-
bath. After tea Dr. Brushfield, Vice-President, proposed a
vote of thanks to the Committee, and trusted they would
convey the sincere thanks of the Association to those who
had so generously provided for their entertainment. He
wished to thank the Mayor for the part he had taken in the
day's proceedings. His kind and genial manner had done
much to make the expedition the success it had been. " This
day," he said, " has been one of the pleasantest the Associa-
tion has ever spent." The Mayor having acknowledged the
vote in a few graceful words, a return was then made, and
South Molton reached at 10 p.m.

It having been decided that the next Annual Meeting
should be held at Okehampton, the following were elected
officers for the occasion :

President : The Eight Hon. Lord Halsbury. Vice-
Presidents : The Worshipful the Mayor of Okehampton,
S. P. B. Newcombe, Esq. ; P. F. B. Bellew, Esq. ; CoLBickford;
Eev. J. F. Clarke, b.a. ; C. Geen, Esq., j.p. ; W. H. Holley,
Esq., J.P. ; J. Byers Leake, Esq., j.p. ; J. Dumville Lees, Esq.,
J.P. ; W. Lethbridge, Esq., j.p. ; C. J. C. Luxmore, Esq. ;
Professor Sir F. Pollock, Bart., m.a., ll.d. ; Eev. F. W. Saulez,
m.a. ; E. B. Savile, Esq.; Col. White-Thomson, c.B., j.p.;
C. B. Woollcombe, Esq., J.P. Hon. Treasurer : P. F. S. Amery,
Esq., J.P., Druid, Ashburton. Hon. Local Treasurer: W.
Burd Pearse, Esq., Okehampton. Hon. Secretary : Eev. W.
Harpley, m.a., f.cp.s., Clayhanger, Tiverton. Hon. Local
Secretary : J. D. Prickmau, Esq., Okehampton.

REPORT OF THE COUNCIL. 19

The Council have published the President's Address,
together with Obituary Notices of members deceased during
the preceding year, and the Reports and Papers read before
the Association; also the Treasurer's Report, a list of
Members, and the Rules, Standing Orders, and Bye-Laws;
they have since added an Index, kindly prepared by
Mr. R. N. Worth, and a Table of Corrections.

A copy of the Transactions and Index has been sent to
each member, and to the following Societies: The Royal
Society, Linnaean Society, Geological Society, Anthropological
Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Royal Institution
(Albemarle Street), the Society of Antiquaries, Devon and
Exeter Institution (Exeter), Plymouth Institution, Torquay
Natural History Society, North Devon Athenaeum (Barn-
staple), Royal Institution of Cornwall (Truro), the Library of
the British Museum, the British Museum (Natural History,
Cromwell Road), the Bodleian Library (Oxford), and the
University Library (Cambridge).

[ 20 ]

Treasurer's Report of Receipts and Expenditure

Beceipta.

£ *. d.

Arrears of Contributions for 1892-93
Arrears of Contributions for 1893-94
Annual Contributions for 1894-95
Prepaid Contributions for 1895-96

Life Compositions

Sale of " Transactions" —

3 copies for 1863 .
1 ditto 1864 .

ditto

1865 .

ditto

1866 .

ditto

1867 .

ditto

1868 .

ditto

1870 .

ditto

1876 .

ditto

1878 .

ditto

1879 .

ditto

1892 .

ditto

1893 .

Sale of " Devonshire Domesday "
2 copies of Part I.
1 ditto Part II.

ditto

Part III.

ditto

Part IV.

ditto

Part V.

ditto

Part VI.

ditto

Part VII.

Sale of Indexes

Dividends on Consols to July 30th, 1895

Balance due to Treasurer

Annual Contributions unpaid, due July 25th, 1893 .
Ditto ditto July 31st, 1894 .

1 1

9 19

149 2

20 9

1R0 1Q

0
0

•

lOV

0 6

0 3

0 7

0 6

0 12

0 6

0 15

0 12

0 7

0 8

0 16

0 4

0 8

0 3

0 4

0 2

0 5

1
0

11
4

0
6

•

7 19

•

226

•

I have examined the foregoing Accounts with (he Vouchers, and found them

correct, this 27th day of July, 1895.

(Signed) ROHERT C. TUCKER,

A udUur.

[ 21 ]

during the year ending 30*A Jvly, 1895.

(E-cpenttture.

Balance due to Treasurer, July 31st, 1894
Brendon and Son —

Printing "Transactions," vol. xxvi.

Packing and Postage

Index and Postage, vol. xxv.

Cards, Circulars, and Notices

Stationery

Poole, South Molton, Programmes
Hoc General Secretary, Petty Expenses
Hon. General Secretary's Assistant
Hon. General Treasurer, Petty Expenses
Hire of Room for Winter Meeting
Bank Charges on Temporary Overdraft
L. B. Varder, Printing Notices .

142 7 9

13 15 0

4 10 0

6 13 0

0 4 3

42 18 8

167 10 0

0 8 6

5 11 1

5 0 0

3
0
1
0

5 6

6 0
2 11

7 6

1*226 10 2

{Signed)

P. F. S. AMERY, Hon. General Treasurer.

[ 22 ]
Statement of the Property of the Association, July 30th, 1895.

tli 8 original price."—
ii of f.tOO. Tb« TOIL

[ 23 ]

SELECTED MINUTES OF COUNCIL, APPOINTING

COMMITTEES.

Passed at the Muting at Okehampton.
JULY, 1895.

9. That Dr. Brushfield, Rev. W. Harpley, Sir J. R Phear, Mr.
J. Brooking Rowe, Mr. A. H. A. Hamilton, and Mr. R. N. Worth
be a Committee for the purpose of considering at what place the
Association shall hold its Meeting in 1897, who shall be invited
to be the Officers during the year beginning with that Meeting,
and who shall be invited to fill any official vacancy or vacancies
which may occur before the Annual Meeting in 1896; that Mr.
Harpley be the Secretary ; and that they be requested to report
to the next Winter Meeting of the Council, and, if necessary, to
the first Meeting of the Council to be held in July, 1896.

10. That Mr. J. S. Amery, Mr. F. Brent, Mr. Robert Burnard,
Rev. W. Harpley, Dr. Brushfield, Mr. J. Brooking Rowe, Mr. H.
B. S. Woodhouse, and Mr. R. N. Worth be a Committee for the
purpose of noting the discovery or occurrence of such Facts in any
department of scientific inquiry, and connected with Devonshire,
aa it may be desirable to place on permanent record, but which
may not be of sufficient importance in themselves to form the
subjects of separate papers ; and that Mr. J. Brooking Rowe be
the Secretary.

11. That Mr. P. F. S. Amery, Mr. G. M. Doe, Mr. D. 0.
Evans, Rev. W. Harpley, Mr. P. Q. Karkeek, Mrs. Radford, Mr.
J. Brooking Rowe, Mrs. Troup, and Mr. H. B. Woodhouse be
a Committee for the purpose of collecting notes on Devonshire
Folk-Lore ; and that Mr. P. F. S. Amery be the Secretary.

12. That Dr. Brushfield, Lord Clifford, Mr. A. H. A. Hamilton,
Mr. J. Hine, Mr. J. Shelly, and Mr. R. N. Worth be a Com-
mittee to prepare a Report on the Public and Private Collections
of Works of Art in Devonshire ; and that Mr. J. Shelly be the
Secretary.

24 RESOLUTIONS APPOINTING COMMITTEES.

13. That Mr. J. S. Amery, Dr. Brushfield, Mr. F. T. El worthy,
Mr. F. H. Firth, Mr. P. O. Hutchinson, Mr. P. Q. Karkeek,
Dr. W. C. Lake, and Mrs. Troup be a Committee for the purpose
of noting and recording the existing use of any Verbal Pro-
vincialisms in Devonshire, in either written or spoken language ;
and that Mr. F. T. Elworthy be the Secretary.

14. That Mr. P. F. S. Amery, Dr. Brushfield, Mr. Burnard,
Mr. P. 0. Hutchinson, Mr. J. Brooking Rowe, Mr. R. Hansford
Worth, and Mr. R. N. Worth be a Committee to collect and
record facts relating to Barrows in Devonshire, and to take steps,
where possible, for their investigation ; and that Mr. R. N. Worth
be the Secretary.

15. That Mr. J. S. Amery, Mr. F. H. Firth, Rev. W. Harpley,
Mr. R. C. Tucker, and Mr. T. W. Windeatt be a Committee for
the purpose of making the arrangements for the Association dinner
at Ashburton in 1896, and that Mr. T. W. Windeatt be the
Secretary.

16. That Mr. James Hamlyn, Mr. A. Chandler, and Mr. P. F.
S. Amery be a Committee to collect and tabulate trustworthy and
comparable observations on the climate of Devon ; and that Mr.
A. Chandler be the Secretary.

17. That the Right Rev. Bishop Brownlow, Dr. Brushfield,
Mr. R. W. Cotton, The Very Rev. the Dean of Exeter, Rev. J.
Ingle Dredge, Mr. J. Brooking Rowe, Mr. E. Windeatt, and Mr.
R. N. Worth be a Committee for the purpose of investigating and
reporting on any Manuscripts, Records, or Ancient Documents
existing in, or relating to, Devonshire, with the nature of their
contents, their locality, and whether in public or private hands;
and that Mr. J. Brooking Rowe be the Secretary.

18. That Rev. G. B. Berry, Mr. R. Burnard, Rev. S. Baring-
Gould, Mr. J. D. Pode, Mr. J. Brooking Rowe, Mr. R. Hansford
Worth, and Mr. R. N. Worth be a Committee for the purpose of
exploring Dartmoor, and that the Rev. S. Baring-Gould be the
Secretary.

PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS.

THE RELATION OF ARCHEOLOGY TO SCIENCE, ART,

AND LITERATURE.

Ladies and Gentlemen, — There are a great many phrases
which are convenient and even useful in application, though,
peradventure, a strictly critical examination of them might
suggest that they do not rest on a very logical foundation.
The logical prohibition to allow division in such wise that
the divided members t(se invicem continent" might seem
to render your charter open to objection : but there may be
subdivisions of one great subject, just as there may be
different sized shelves in your library, which do not
necessarily correspond to different subjects, or subjects
divided from each other by any very precise line. It is, as
I suppose, for some such reason that in view of the subjects
for the study and promotion of which our Society exists,
it has proclaimed its devotion to Literature, Science, and Art,
^ce neither Science nor Literature, here, can be truly said
to be exclusive of each other.

Nor, indeed, do I find that the records of this Association
give countenance to the idea that its interests and investiga-
tions are confined within the narrow limits sometimes, and
inaccurately as I think, assigned to the three topics in
question.

It would be strange, indeed, if History, or the materials
from which History is made up, should be excluded from the
tovestigations of such a Society as this. The great author of
modern experimental philosophy, though he certainly had no
midue reverence for Antiquity — indeed, he tells us that the
too great reverence for Antiquity has kept men back from
progress in knowledge — yet allows that they are as planks in
* shipwreck, and acknowledges that industrious and sagacious
men have, by their investigation of some things which he

vol. xxvil c

26 LORD halsbury's presidential address.

enumerates, preserved some things from the deluge of past
ages. But I think that the passage to which I refer is too
important to be passed over by reference. It is as follows : —

" Memorise sunt historia inchoata, aut prima et rudia historian
lineamenta ; antiquitates vero historia deformata sunt, sive reliquiae
historiae, quae casu e naufragis temporum ereptae sunt.

"Memoriae, sive praeparationes ad historiam duplicis generis sunt;
quorum alteram commentaries, alteram registra vocare placet.
Commentarii nudam actionum et eventuum seriem ac connexionem
proponunt, praetermissis causis reram et praetextibus, initiis quoque
earundem et occasionibus, consiliis ibidem, et orationibus, et reliquo
actionum apparatu. Talis enim est propria commentariorum natura ;
licet Caesari, per modestiam quandam com magnanimitate
cod junc tarn praestantissimae, inter eas, quae extant, historiae com-
mentariorum nomen indere placuerit. At registra duplicis natures
sunt ; complectuntur enim aut titulos rerum et personarum, in serie
temporum ; quales dicuntur fasti et chronologize ; aut actorum
solemnitates ; cujus generis sunt, principum edicta, senatuum
decreta, judiciorum processus, orationes publico habitae, epistolaa
publico missae, et simila, absque narrationis contextu sive filo
continue

" Antiquitates, sen historiarum reliquiae, sunt (uti jam diximus)
tanquam tabulae naufragii, cum, deficiente et fere submersa rerum
memoria nihilominus homines industrii et sagaces, pertinaci quadam
et scrupulosa diligentia ex genealogiis, fastis, titulis, monumentis,
numismatibua, nominibus propria et stylis, verbornm etymologiia,
proverbiis traditionibus, archivis et instramentis, tarn publicis
quam privatis, historiarum fragmentis, liboram neutiquam histori-
corum locis dispersis; exhis, inquam, omnibus, vel aliquibus,
nonnulla a temporis diluvio eripiunt, et conservant. Res sane
operosa, sed mortalibus grata, et cum reverentia quadam conjuncta;
ac digna certe, quae deletis fabulosis nationum originibus, in locum
huju8modi commentitiorum substituatur ; sed tamen eo minus
habeu8 auctoritatis, quia paucoram licentise subjicitur, quod paucis
curoe est."1

I am not so much concerned with the division which the
great philosopher whom I quote makes between the three
heads, into which he divides Civil History, as with the part
which he allows to Antiquities, and of which he only allows
that they may, or some of them may, preserve some things
from the deluge of time.

It is against this insufficient recognition of the value of
the labours of industrious and learned men that I wish to
say a few words, since whatever else may come within the

1 Bacon's Works, vii. 130, 131.

LORD HALSBURY'S PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 27

topics which form the watchwords of our Society, there
can be no denial that the truth of what has passed among
men and its exposition in later times, contributes to Science,
Literature, and Art, in no small degree.

Now, in each of the subjects to which Lord Bacon refers,
there is to my mind a wealth of knowledge, and so great
a check to error, that it seems appropriate in such a Society
as this to dwell a little and consider how much these things
may tell us.

Genealogies : Speaking in this county, may I not say that
many of them furnish materials, not only for a history of
Devonshire, but for a history of England. Eisdon, Prince,
and Polwhdt would enable one to give a living history
of many an interesting period of our National chronicles.

Speaking in this place it would be superfluous to go
through the long roll of Devonshire Heroes, Philosophers,
Judges, Authors — whose names have become entwined with
any account of the progress of the Nation; and any account
of their lives and works would itself form no inconsiderable
addition to National history.

To attempt to epitomise such a Roll would be to offend
against one of Lord Bacon's own protests, that historical
epitomes leave but the useless rubbish, and only weaken
and destroy, like rust and moth, the annals which they pro-
fess to represent.

Only in later times — much later indeed than the period of
Lord Bacon — have we begun to learn how much may be
ascertained from the dry legal documents, some of which for
the first time were printed in 1835.

The Selden Society in the year 1888, published Seleet
Pleas of the Grown, extending from the year 1200 to the
year 1225, and, fascinating as is the subject (or rather mani-
fold subjects), with which those Pleas of the Crown deal, I
must not enlarge on all they disclose, not only of the state of
the law, but also of the state of Society, since the material
I know would grow under my hand, and become too un-
wieldy for management.

Only one subject I will mention, because I have to men-
tion it in another connection presently, and that is the first
complaint in a Court of Law against what we have known as
Boycotting.

Again, Coins : I daresay most of us are familiar with the

controversy that had arisen round the title attributed to

o 2

28 LORD halsbuby's presidential address.

Sergiu8 Paulus in the Acts of the Apostles, dependent upon
the question whether Cyprus was an Imperial or Senatorial
province ? But, coins dug up in Cyprus in modern times,
have settled that controversy, and established the accuracy of
St. Luke's designation.

The very material of the coin, though in a very different
region of thought, is not without its importance. It con-
sists of the red copper of the island, and we learn from
Josephus that Herod farmed the copper mines from which
that material was extracted.

Without going through the whole catalogue given by Lord
Bacon, it is manifest, even from but a few examples, that the
story of "Eyes and no Eyes" receives fertile illustration
from such topics as I am now insisting upon. Etymology,
and, indeed, the study of Philology generally, is such an
auxiliary to Literature, in its more limited sense, that in
Chatterton's day it was possible to get many dupes to a
forgery, which, if published in our own time, would probably
have been exposed by a letter to The Times, within twenty-
four hours of its first publication.

Those who have read that most delightful book, Trench on
Words, will not lack examples of what a history lies some-
times hidden in a single expression. But we do not
want examples in our own times of the proposition that the
word remains current, long after the word or the phrase has
lost its connection with the history which gave rise to its
existence.

Why is a policeman called a Bobby ? or why was he called
a Peeler.

Why was a fourpenny piece called a Joey ?

Some of us are old enough to recognise the names of Sir
Robert Peel and Mr. Joseph Hume in such phrases, but it
would take much study of Political and Comic Literature to
explain to the enquirer of the twentieth century what
allusions are involved in these expressions.

Why already the troubles of Captain Boycott and his
individuality are forgotten, though the word is used in con-
versation, aye, and even in Acts of Parliament, without an
interpretation clause to lead us to the history which the
word discloses.

Of course, I do not deny, that in this as in other depart-
ments of human knowledge, the error which is incident
to them all has made its appearance, and Mr. Jonathan
Oldbuck's " Pnetorium," or " Bill Stumps his mark " have had

LORD HALSBtTRY's PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 29

their real prototypes in Archaeological investigations : but for
all that the laborious search for records of the past has been
richly rewarded before now; and the scientific use of the
imagination must and will find its place in the thousand
conjectures which rise to the mind of the zealous antiquary,
before he gets the clue which guides him in the right direction.

I have thought whether as applicable to names I could
not make out a good case for Okehampton being connected
with the death of Hardicanute, on 8 June, 1042.

There was an Oke-day, or Hoke-day (it was spelled both
ways) kept as a festival throughout England, on the fifteenth
day after Easter. That there was such a festival is certain ;
that singular customs gathered round it is equally certain ;
though whether it was to celebrate the massacre of the
Danes in 1002, in the reign of Ethelred II., or the death of
Hardicanute forty years afterwards, learned men are not
agreed ; but Oke or Hoketide was a familiar date in early
English history. Oke games, Oke collections, Oke cere-
monies, Oke-Tuesday, when the women tied the men with
ropes, are all things known and treated of by learned men,
and if occasionally their zeal has outrun their discretion in
the conclusions at which they arrived, it has been, I think,
in most cases, because they have begun with their conclusion,
and, having started with their theories, they did not examine
them to see whether the facts supported them, but treated
the facts with somewhat cavalier indifference if they did
not accord with the theory.

Hampton is, we all know, a common termination for an
English town, and the absence or presence of the letter H is
certainly a matter upon which no reliance can be placed: but
I do not advance my theory; I have not investigated my
facts ; and in the face of my own warning I do not pro-
pound the theory until all the facts have been thoroughly
investigated. But, in truth, the spirit of careful and minute
investigation is the real life and essence of historical and
scientific inquiry. It is not the principle of rash assumption
without labour, or of that aTaXanroopo? £riTWL<mi$ aXrjOeias,
of which Thucydides speaks, and which seems to leave its
victims unable to understand what is plain and manifest
before their eyes.

The reading of the hieroglyphic language may furnish an
illustration of what I mean. There was a book familiar
enough to every theological etudent, written by one who,

30 LORD HALSBURY's PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS.

at one time himself an Egyptian priest, had explained the
great key which, independently of any such hint, Ghampollion
the younger found for himself with infinite labour; and this,
be it remembered, was a subject upon which the learned
of all cultivated nations had exercised themselves, and
exercised themselves fruitlessly. And yet, as I say, the
riddle was read for them, if they had but had eyes and
ears, such as are cultivated by the laborious and saga-
cious men of later times.

Now, the true key was, as most here are aware, that so far
as alphabetic writing formed part of the language, the initial
letters were taken of the objects represented : so if we were
spelling a cat in English hieroglyphics we should draw a
cow, an axe, and a tree ; a dog might be a dart, an ox, and a
goose.

Now, Clemens Alexandrinus explained that hieroglyphics
were read e/c Trparrwv crroixctcov. Everybody translated these
words as meaning what indeed in classic Greek they do
mean, the "first elements," but this translation explained
nothing.

After Champollion's discovery, but not before, it occurred
to those who read the passage that the word (rroix^ia in the
mouth of a scholar of the third century might mean letters,
and the word irpwrwv, though meaning " first in time " might
also mean " first in place," and so the " first elements " were
rightly changed to " initial letters " — plainly enough when we
have been told what they mean, but which one would think
ought not to have taken fifteen centuries to find out ?

Of Legends I will only instance one: Blue Beard, the
delight of our youth. A legend as told but having too true
a foundation. Blue Beard, whom we have known with
turban and scimitar, was a Breton knight, and no Turk at all ;
but his seven wives were not a sacrifice to jealousy, but to
the mediaeval superstition of obtaining an Elixir of Life.
His trial, conviction, and punishment, are duly recorded in
the annals of Nantes, and may be examined by the curious
antiquary to this day.

But not only names of persons, but names of things.
What wealth of theological disquisition is involved in the
phrase * corporal oath " ? Trace it out to the " corporate " —
the cloth in which the Host was wrapped, upon which it
was the custom to swear, and then consider all that is
involved in the word " corporal"

LORD HALSBURY'S PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 31

Talk of Gibraltar, and resolve it into its Arabic elements
as the Mountain of Tarik, and the Moorish invasion of Spain
lies before you, and all the history that then becomes a
romance.

We have seen, in very recent times, the mode of burial in
Egypt disclosing the history of a hitherto unknown people ;
and the tablets of Tel el Amarna revealing something like
Consular Beports between Syria and Egypt, at a period in
which crude, superficial, and therefore ignorant incredulity,
denies the existence of written characters at all.

We have all, doubtless, heard of the discovery of Aristotle's
lost Treatise upon the Constitution of Athens, and on the
back of it is written a farm account of the reign of Trajan.
These seem to me, not Lord Bacon's planks in a shipwreck,
but dumb witnesses of truth, which from their inflexibility
are the inveterate enemies of fable, and the correctors of
erroneous tradition.

I do not say that one may not, sometimes, justify the jibe
of Peter Pindar, who treats all engaged in such pursuits as I
am speaking of, as silly children amusing themselves with
trifles.

Horace Walpole justified his leaving a Society of Anti-
quaries because they had discussed "Whittington and his
Cat"

A favourite French play represents the ignorant citizen
digging up the broken relics of his own crockery, which an
awkward servant had buried to conceal his awkwardness, and
claiming them as Roman remains. But the true spirit of
research is just what is wanted to remove the reproach of too
readily accepting manufactured antiquities.

I do not say that the spirit of research is infallible. I do not
say that some of its professors do not make very absurd
blunders. I have admitted, as all must admit of human
learning — that it may err.

Research is not knowledge; neither is it like the super-
natural power of seeing a great deal in nothing, which some
of our modern fiction attributes to the professional detective.
Bat it is, nevertheless, a clue in the labyrinth of confused
tradition, a guide through the mists of party misrepresenta-
tion and national prejudices, a light which has no colour, and
which, therefore, casts no shade of its own over the facts
which it discloses ; or, to change the metaphor, I would say
it is more like the subtle test of the analytical chemist,
which, even in its minutest form, is able at once to detect

32 LORD HALSBtTBY'S PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS.

the admixture of alloy in the mingled ores of base metal
and trua

What is done by Associations such as ours, is, I think, to
cultivate that spirit, and to bring into the midst each theory
in turn propounded for acceptance, and expose it, if not in
the furnace of affliction, in that furnace of criticism in which
all that is not genuine melts away, and leaves behind it the
firm basis of Historical and Scientific Truth.

It might seem that what I have been saying would be
more appropriate to an exclusively Archaeological Society than
to one whose claims seems to embrace a wider area ; but I
do not think either Science, Literature, or Art are in danger
of being neglected in our time, and as a great philosophical
teacher of Germany said in his lecture on the vocation of
a scholar, "Culture must not be one-sided, but all-sided."
Bale and Leland, Dugdale, Hearne, were voces clamantes
in deserto; and what I am endeavouring to insist upon is
that the astonishing discoveries in Egypt, Asiatic Turkey,
and India have hardly received their due meed of attention,
and have not been recognised in the light they have shed on
much that constitutes Science, Literature, and Art

Mr. Flinders Petrie, Mr. Naville, Professor Sayce, have I
think been obscured by the splendours of their own dis-
coveries. Bonami, Donaldson, Mr. George Smith, Mr.
Pinches, Mr. Budge, have almost disclosed a new world.

Nearly half a century ago, a French scholar and
archaeologist, Mr. Vitet, said : " In truth it is a new thing,
entirely new and original, to describe and classify in chrono-
logical order not only these monuments embedded in the
earth, and the sculptures which adorn them, but all the
creations of the art and industry of our fathers, even the
lightest and most fragile." After a just testimony to those
whose perseverance and labour had searched into the interior
history of the Middle Ages, deciphered its writing, explained
its usages, and interpreted its laws, he says, "But in one
point they made default, they did not look at its monuments."

How was it that they were not brought to the study of its
monuments ? How was it that the study of Palaeography,
Heraldry, and Numismatics, did not bring them to the study
of its monuments? Why did they not recognise that the
monuments are to past ages, what writing is to ideas ?

Mr. Vitet was dealing with the monuments of the Middle
Ages, and more especially those in his own country, but he
glances further on at a wider field.

LORD HALSBURY'S PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 33

Do we know, for instance, he says, from the sixth century
to the time of the Crusaders, the relations between the East
and the West Even if one only were to consult written
records, who would think that between the bazaars of
Byzantium and the counters of Cologne, between the
monasteries of Thessaly and the cloisters of Auvergne or
Poitou, there existed relations, if not always frequent, at
least never completely interrupted.

The learned will not believe it at all, but the monuments
affirm it, and it is the monuments which are right

This, then, is the conclusion which I seek to draw : that
Science, Literature, and Art should lend their aid to, and seek
aid from, Archaeological Research.

The field is becoming wider every day.

Mr. Simpson, in a paper read at the Ninth International
Congress of Orientalists, held in London five years ago, read
a paper on Oriental Art and Archaeology, which discloses
the astonishing progress of Archaeology in the East An
Archaeology scientific in its methods, and elegant in its
literature.

Dr. Leitner's collection, which he brought to the South
Kensington Museum, in London, and his own learned lectures
on the objects collected, show what may be learned from
comparatively insignificant things scientifically treated. But
I have said enough to make my point clear, and the Devon-
shire Association for the promotion of Science, Literature,
and Art, requires no stimulus from me, to emulate in the
West the energy and skill which the East is now displaying,
in gathering the scattered materials for a more scientific
history of man than the nineteenth century has yet
afforded.

#bituarp Notices*

COMPILED BT
THE REV. W. HARTLEY, M.A., HON. SECRETARY OF THE ASSOCIATION.

John Roberts Chanter was born at Bideford, January
5th, 1816, being the son of Mr. John Chanter, banker, of
that town. During his early childhood his father removed
to London, and he was left in the care of his uncle, the
Rev. William Chanter, vicar of Hartland, and later was
taken charge of by his maternal uncles, Messrs. Edward
and Charles Roberts, solicitors, of Barnstaple. After com-
pleting his education at Exeter Grammar School, he was
articled to his uncle, Mr. Charles Roberts, and ultimately
became a partner in the firm of Roberts, Carter, and Chanter,
solicitors. Soon after the death of these partners, Mr.
Chanter was joined by Mr. J. P. Ffinch, and a few years
later retired from his practice into private, but ever active
and useful life. A man of excellent ability, great energy,
and a public spirited citizen, Mr. Chanter threw himself
eagerly into public life, and soon exercised great influence
in municipal affairs. He was for many years a member of
the Town Council, occupying a seat on the alderman's bench
for a long time, and serving the office of Mayor with dignity
and success. But it was in scientific and literary pursuits
that he took the greatest delight, especially in those of an
antiquarian character. His publications include Incidents in
Barnstaple, 1865 ; A Literary History of Barnstaple, 1866 ;
Lundy Island, a Monograph, 1877 ; Memorials of St. Peter's
Church, Barnstaple, 1882 ; while by him and Mr. Wain-
wright, headmaster of the Grammar School, the Barnstaple
Borough Records were calendared and described, Mr.
Wainwright translating and editing the earlier documents,

OBITUARY NOTICES. 35

and Mr. Chanter undertaking those of later date. These
valuable contributions to local history were published in the
North Devon Herald and North Devon Journal, weekly for
about three years.

Mr. Chanter became a member of the Association in
1866. In the following year the annual meeting was held
at Barnstaple, and he was elected one of the Vice-Presidents.
The success of that meeting was largely due to his energy,
activity, and hospitality. He became a member of the
Council, and continued so until his decease. He also served
on the Committee on Devonshire Becords, a Committee
which was formed at his recommendation. For many years
he was a regular attendant at the annual meetings, and
frequently contributed papers. In the Transactions will be
found papers by him on the following subjects : —

" North Devon Customs and Superstitions," 1867 ; " The
Early History of North Devon, and Site of the Supposed
Cimbric Town, Artavia," 1867 ; " A History of Lundy
Island," 1871 ; " On Devonshire Lanes," 1873 ; " The Early
Poetry and Poets of Devon," 1874; "Tawton, the First
Saxon Bishopric of Devonshire," 1875 ; " Vestiges of an
early Guild of St. Nicholas at Barnstaple, a.d. 1303," 1879 ;
"An Exchequer Tally, a Barnstaple Eecord of 1622," 1880 ;
" Cluniac Houses in Devon," 1888.

On the second Barnstaple meeting, in 1890, Mr. Chanter
was again a Vice-President. Although his advancing years
and failing strength prevented him taking a very active part
to the proceedings, yet he most freely dispensed hospitality,
and contributed largely to the enjoyment of those who
attended the meeting. He died at his residence, Fort Hill,
Barnstaple, July, 1895, aged 83 years.

Edward Fisher, of Abbotsbury, Newton Abbot, was the
son of Edward Fisher, of Ashby de la Zouch, and a descen-
dant from Thomas Fisher, of Caldecott Hall, Leicestershire.
He was born at Ashby in 1828. He was a devoted student
of Archaeology and Architecture; and a great lover of art in
all its branches. He was of retiring habits, and spent much
of his time in his library or in his garden, of which he was
yery fond. He was a member of several Archaeological
Societies, and became a member of this Association in 1873.
He died July 31st, 1875, at his residence at Abbotsbury,
aged 66 years.

36 OBITUARY NOTICES.

.in.

Winslow Jones was many years ago a partner in the firm
of Messrs. Carew and Jones, solictors, of Exeter. The prac-
tice was afterwards carried on by Mr. C. J. Follett, a relative
of Sir William Follett, and now by Messrs. Battishill
and Houlditch. Mr. Winslow Jones was known by all
the citizens of Exeter and county families as a man of
distinguished learning and great honour. He took a con-
siderable part in connection with the visit of the British
Association, in 1882, for which the Victoria Hall was built.
He was one of the few remaining original members of the
Devonshire Association, and from its commencement in 1862,
till his decease, he identified himself with its aims, and gave
his best efforts to promote its efficiency and well being.
In 1883, he compounded as a life member. He contri-
buted several papers at the annual meetings under the
following titles:—

"Memoranda on the Lucombe Oak and Governor Hoi will,"
1880.

" The Slanning8 of Leye, Bickleigh, and Maristow," 1887 and
1888.

"Thomas Chafe, of Doddescott, in St Giles-in-the-Wood
(Brother-in-Law of Tristram Eisdon, the Antiquary)" 1888.

"ElizeHele," 1889.

"Font in Dolton Church, North Devon," 1891.

"Sir John de Sully, KG.," 1892.

" The author of ' The Worthies of Devon ' and ' The Prince
Family," 1893.

Mr. Winslow Jones was always ready to supply, from his
rich store of information, help to others engaged in literary
work, as the following acknowledgments of literary help will
testify : —

"The author has been much indebted during his revision
to . . . and Winslow Jones, Esq., for information about the
West, which few else could have supplied." (The late Eev.
C. W. Boase, in his Register of the Hectors and Fellows of Exeter
College, 2nd Ed., 1893).

"For special family history he has not seldom consulted
Winslow Jones, Esq."

(The same in his New Edition, 1894).

Prebendary Hingeston-Randolph, in all the volumes he
has printed of the Episcopal Registers, except the first,

OBITUARY NOTICES. 37

acknowledges the help of Mr. Winslow Jones. In the
last issue, Bp. Grandisson, vol. i., he remarks : —

"And I have again to acknowledge, with gratitude, the
continued help of the many kind friends who have assisted me
Wore . . . and Mr. Winslow Jones has rendered valuable
service in helping me to identify the names of Manors and
other Estates referred to more or less obscurely in the Regis-
ters."

Some of the most valuable papers in the five volumes
of Notes and Gleanings (Exeter), were contributed by Mr.
Winslow Jones. He spared no pains of time, travel, or cost,
in order to secure strict accuracy in all the work he under-
took. He was remarkably modest, thoroughly unaffected,
full of thoughtful kindness, indeed a fine specimen of
the Christian gentleman. There were few matters of
public importance in the city in which he had no part. The
Albert Memorial, Museum, and educational affairs generally
received his hearty support. He was a man of fine presence,
and, until within the last year or two, he was upright as a
dart, although he carried the weight of many years. He
was one of the original officers of the 1st Eifle Volunteers.

For some years before his decease he resided at Exmouth,
where he died July 30th, 1895, aged 80 years.

IV.

William Lavers was born at Kingsbridge, whence, in his
youth, he removed to Plymouth, where he was articled to an
eminent firm of solicitors, now known as Messrs. Eooker,
Matthews, Harrison, and Matthews, of Frankfort-street. He
^riy practised with much success as an advocate; but in
1869 his health failed him, and for three years he devoted
himself to travelling, both in Great Britain and upon the
Continent. Eeturning home he was advised to remove to
Torquay, where he purchased the charming residence known
88 Upton Leigh, in Teignmouth Eoad. There he settled
down with his wife and sister, the former of whom died in
June last year. Shortly afterwards Mr. Lavers enlarged the
pounds of his residence to their present area — eleven acres
""-and devoted himself to the practice of floriculture, of
which he became very fond. His principal hobby was the
cultivation of orchids, of which he had a very extensive
and valuable collection, and many of which he annually
displayed at the exhibitions of the Torquay Horticultural
Society. Mr. Lavers was very philanthropic ; among many

38 OBITUABY NOTICE&

other objects, the Torbay Hospital awoke his earliest and
keenest interest. In 1872 he subscribed £1000 for the
construction of the North wing, this handsome gift at first
being bestowed anonymously; the name of the donor was
subsequently revealed by the merest accident. Mr. Layers
was elected a Vice-President and a life governor of the
Hospital. Besides being an annual subscriber, he made
handsome donations to the funds at various intervals.
Another charitable work with which Mr. Lavers became
closely identified, was the Erith House Institution for invalid
ladies, of which he acted as joint Hon. Secretary up to the
time of his death. Of the Western Hospital for Consumption
he was also a generous supporter. To satisfy the religious
needs of the inhabitants of Lower Upton, about the end of
1890 or beginning of 1891, he intimated his intention of
providing a site for the erection of a mission house, since known
as S. James', and towards its cost of £800 he subscribed £520,
to which he afterwards added £60 more ; and, with his friend,
the Eev. Preb. Wolfe, he bore the cost of the organ.

On Nov. 12th, 1873, Mr. Lavers was elected a member of
the Torquay Natural History Society. He was a member of
the Committee in 1876, from 1878 to 1881, from 1885 to
1888, and from 1890 to 1894. He was Vice-President in
1877, President from 1881 to 1883, and a Vice-President
again in 1884. His periodical lectures were much appre-
ciated. As President of the Torquay District Gardeners'
Association he delivered two instructive lectures — one upon
orchids, and the other upon the peculiarities of seed distribu-
tion. He became a member of this Association in 1873.

Mr. Lavers never took an active part in the government of
Torquay ; not until the Watershed controversy, at the
beginning of 1894, was he known to appear upon the plat-
form to speak upon a town question. The Town Council's
scheme for the purchase of the Watershed found in him one
of its strongest foes. He spoke much, and well, against the
proposal, and there is no doubt that the stand he took in
opposition did much to overthrow it.

The malady from which he suffered increased in severity,
and after May, 1894, he was almost entirely confined to his
residence. He maintained, however, his genial disposition to
the last, and, as long as he was able, he continued to delight
in escorting his many visitors to Upton Leigh around his
beautiful grounds and through his glass houses. The end
came at last, after much patiently-borne suffering, on
Saturday, September 15th, 1894.

OBITUAHY NOTICES. 39

Mrs. Tanner -Davy was the daughter of Mr. James
Schoolbred, of Tottenham Court Road, London. About 27
years ago she was married to Col. John Tanner-Davy, j.p.,
of the Manor House, Rose Ash, near South Molton, who,
for some years was Grand Master for Devon of the order
of Mark Masons. He died in May, 1889.

Mrs. Tanner-Davy joined the Association in 1892, as a
life Member. She died of gastric fever, at the house of her
brother, Mr. Walter Schoolbred, 10, Connaught Place, Hyde
Park, W., on May 28th, 1895, aged 60 years.

She was a woman of high literary attainments, a kind
friend, and a generous donor to public and private charities.
These she dispensed quietly ; only her most intimate friends
knew that she gave, because she seldom added even her
initials to her money gifts. The church at Bose Ash was
indebted to her for many valuable additions to funds for
structural purposes, and for internal fittings. A friend writes
of her thus : — " During a close intimacy of 20 years, I never
saw anything in her but what was generous, kind, and an
intense desire to add to the comfort and happiness, not only
of those near and dear to her, but to everyone who suffered,
or was in any way afflicted in mind or body."

FOURTEENTH REPORT OF
THE COMMITTEE ON DEVONSHIRE VERBAL

PROVINCIALISMS.

Fourteenth Report of the Committee — consisting of Mr. J. S.
Amery, Mr. F. T. Elworthy (Secretary), Mr. F. H. Firth,
Mr. P. 0. Hutchinson, Mr. P. Q. Karkeek, Dr. W. C.
Lake, Br. Brushfield, and Mrs. J. Rose Troup — for the
purpose of noting and recording the existing use of any
Verbal Provincialisms in Devonshire, in either written or
spoken language, not included in the lists published in the
Transactions of the Association.

Edited by F. T. Elworthy.

(Read at Okohampton, July, 1895.)

The Fourteenth Report of your Committee appears at a
particularly interesting and opportune time. Not only does
it mark that your Committee has served two full apprentice-
ships, and thereby proved itself to have done useful and
valuable work, but it comes at a time when a very special
effort should be made by all those interested to gather up
the many fragments that remain. Two notices of great
moment to all who have taken part in preserving our
provincialisms have recently appeared. One is that the
Dialect Society, which has served over three apprenticeships,
is to cease to exist after 1896, for the reason that the seventy
odd volumes it has produced are believed to contain all the
material likely to be obtained "from any part of the country."
The other is that the end for which the Dialect Society was
really begun now appears to be in sight. The prospectus of
the English Dialect Dictionary, which has been undertaken
by the man of all others now living most capable of carrying
out the work efficiently, scientifically, and promptly, has

REPORT ON DEVONSHIRE VERBAL PROVINCIALISMS. 41

been issued. Dr. Joseph Wright, Professor of Comparative
Philology at Oxford, estimates that this great work will be
completed in eight years, say seven from this time, provided
1000 subscribers have been obtained. Of that, for such a
work, there can be little doubt.

The materials collected by your Committee have gone to
swell the mass contained in the publications of the Dialect
Society and of others, which will have to pass through the
mill of editorship, and the digestive brain of the final compiler.
The amount of labour undertaken by Dr. Wright can only
be appreciated by those who have had some experience, and
have been behind the scenes, in other big work of this kind.

The value of the Dialect Dictionary as a supplement to, or
rather the complement of, the great English Dictionary, will
be not simply national, but international, as containing the
language of the entire people using that tongue, of whom
the Empire upon which the sun never sets includes but a
fraction.

These considerations, 'so far from leading your Committee
to close their labours, seem but to stimulate them in urging
all observers still to keep careful watch for the many
provincialisms still unrecorded, and to remember that such
expressions as they deal with are not ail old, but ever new —
that fresh words are day by day being invented by rustics, as
touch as by journalists ; and history teaches that the dialect
word of this year may become a literary one in the next.
All interested, therefore, are earnestly cautioned that their
work is by no means ended.

Your Committee could have wished to be able to place
* fuller list, with more signs of active work, on this its
fourteenth statement.

It would be ungracious and ungrateful to close this Eeport
without affectionate mention of the name of the founder and
fet editor of the Committee, our much-respected friend Mr.
Pengelly, who, since the issue of the last lieport, has gone to
test from his labours, full of years and of honour, but living
still in the memory of his fellow-workers, as one whose life
toay be summed up in one word — " thorough."

The resolutions under which this Committee are empowered
to act, together with instructions to be followed by those
willing to collect materials, also a considerable list of books
for reference, have been printed in full in previous reports,
down to the tenth, published in vol. xviii. 1886.

All new observers who are interested in the subject are
invited carefully to peruse them, and to such as may not be

VOL. XXVIL D

42 FOURTEENTH REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

in possession of the early reports containing the resolutions
a copy will be gladly forwarded, on application to the Editor.

CONTRIBUTIONS.

Each provincialism is placed within inverted commas, and
the whole contribution ends with the initials of the observer.
All remarks following the initials are simply editorial.

The full address of each contributor is given below, and it
must be fully understood that he or she is responsible only
for the statements to which his or her initials are appended :

R P. C. = R Pearse Chope, 107, Ledbury Road,

Bayswater.
0. R = Rev. 0. J. Reichel, A la Eonde, Lympstone.

F. B. T. = Mrs. J. Rose Troup, Offwell House, Honiton.
A. D. T. = Rev. A. D. Taylor, Churchstanton Rectory,

Honiton.
H. B. S. W. = H. B. S. Woodhouse, 10, Portland Square,

Plymouth.

"'A/ or 'An/ before note of number. Probably the
scripture passage alluded to, but not quoted in the Twelfth
Report, is Luke ix. 28, 'about an eight days after/ &c. —
June, 1893. H. B. S. W."

Certainly. The above is the passage referred to in the
Twelfth Report.

See also Promp. Parv., Note, p. 12.

This is a word of much interest, showing how original
meanings become changed. Angel, or angle, originally in
Ang.-Sax. meant hamus, a hook — hence the fifteenth century
books on "fysshynge with an angle," and our modern word

ON DEVONSHIBE VERBAL PROVINCIALISMS. 43

angling. In West Somerset, however, this meaning is
completely lost; the twitch is dropped, which was always
annexed to it, and only angle remains; this is now the
ordinary term for an earthworm ; thus, what was the hook is
now the name for the bait. See W. Som. Word Book.

Twitch, or touch, in this sense seems only to have been
used in the compound angeltwecca, and rather suggests the
twisting or wriggling of the worm on the hook — from twiccian
— whence our modern twick, or to twitch. See New Eng. Diet.

" Bagavel, &c. In the Exeter Receiver-General's Accounts,
for 1752, appear the terms : ' Bagavel, Chippingavel, Beltin-
gavel, and Wheelage/— Dec, 1893. F. B. T."

Bagavel is a word peculiar to the customs of Exeter. It
was a tribute (Ang.-Sax. gafol) granted to the citizens by
charter of Edward I. They had thereby the power of taxing
all wares brought into the city for sale. The proceeds were
to be applied to the repairs and general maintenance of the
borough property.

Of the meaning of gavel in all these words there is no
doubt. We have gafol, gafolgilda, gafolrand, gaful, and
gafule in Ang.-Sax. (Wright's Vocab.), all meaning tax or
tribute ; but the first syllable is not easily, nor certainly, to
be explained. It is probably bag ; i.e. bag-gafol, which
would imply an impost upon every package of goods of
whatever kind, for bag signified not only a sack, but a bundle,
a pack, a chest. (See New Eng. Diet.) It is probable that
the city accounts of this tax, if accessible, would throw light
upon this point. Judging from analogy, the obvious meanings
of Chippingavel and Beltingavel show that the object taxable
was expressed by the first syllable. It is therefore safest to
accept the simplest explanation, if reasonable. At the same
time it is not to be taken as certain, because similarity of
sound makes the meaning apparently obvious. After all, it
might turn out (though not likely) to be boc-gafol; i.e. tribute
payable according to book, otherwise according to a settled
tariff

a Bairge = the top face or outer edge of a gable. A mason,
aged about 50, was heard to say, ' Us shall foace vor ha* a
new bairge refter avore us kin putt the roof to rights/ (J. C.)
The ' bairge refter ' is the rafter outside the wall. The word
' bairge ' is, I think, generally applied to the ' wads ' or
bundles (called 'bairge wads') to which the thatch of a
house or stack is secured at the gables by 'spears' (spars)
or otherwise. It is also used by itself, as in the sentence,

D 2

44 FOURTEENTH REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

' Bring the thatch well down over the bairge.' — August* 1894
R P. C.

Except for pronunciation, this word can hardly be con-
sidered provincial.

" Bat = the strip of land between two trenches in a ploughed
field, the ridge between two open furrows or ' all-vores.'
J. T. H. informs me that his father used to put one sort of
manure on one 'bat/ and another sort on the next. — June,
1895. R P. C."

In Somerset the word bat is applied to the corners or ends
of the field, which cannot be got at by the ' zool* but have to
be dug out with the * bisgy ' or two-bill.

See W. Som. Word Book, p. 47.

" Bias. A woman at Horrabridge expressed first her
surprise at the writer's calling on her, as being a week before
the expected time; and secondly, her disappointment that
certain things she had expected to happen had not come to
pass, and that moneys she had hoped to receive had not been
paid, summing up the whole in the expression, 'It's all
against my bias/ — June, 1895. H. B. S. W."

This word, by no means uncommon amongst provincial
speakers, is obsolete in literature, in the sense here used.

This is fully dealt with in the New Eng. Diet., and the
above phrase falls under section 4 : " Set course in any
direction, ordinary 'way/

" From or out of the bias. Out of the way.
" To pat out of or off one's bias. To put out, disconcert,
confuse, put into disorder. Obs."

Devon seems to have supplied the last writer who thus
used the word, according to the New Eng. Did., but the
present editor has a strong impression that Blackmore has
written it in the above sense in one of his novels.
" Yet novelty shall lead the world astray,

And turn ev'n Bishops off from Wisdom's bias;
A Mouse shall start the Lion of the day —
Witness that miserable imp Matthias."

Wolcott (Peter Pindar), Nil Admirari.

" Black-butter = laver, or sea-lettuce, which is eaten as
food. Informants, B. P. and others. — June, 1892. R P. C."

Ulva latissima, and Ulva lactuca. Prior, Pop. Names of
Brit. Plants.

" In Glamorganshire, and some other parts, they make a
sort of food of a sea-plant, which seems to be the oyster-
green, or sea-liver-wort This they call laver-bread. Near

ON DEVONSHIRE VERBAL PROVINCIALISMS. 45

St David's they call it Llavan, or Llawnan ; in English
black-butter." Kennett (Lansdowne MS., No. 1033), Britten.

From the above it is evident that the same name prevails
on both sides of the Bristol Channel — but on which side it
was first applied does not appear. The probability is that
the name was carried from Devon to, or by, the English
colony in Gower and Pembroke.

Llavan, &c, is not in ordinary Welsh dictionaries.

" Black-wobm = the black-beetle, or cockroach. (B. P.)—
June, 1892. B. P. C."

Hal. says this is black-bm in Salop, black-bobs in Berks,
black-clock in Yorkshire, and black-worm in Cornwall.

"Brads = the large nails formerly used by wheelwrights for
securing the strakes of a cart-wheel to the felloes (pron.
vellies). Informant, B. P. Same as Steert. W. Som.
Word Book— June, 1892. E. P. C."

" Bolt = a bundle. See Wolgar.— June, 1894. E. P. C."
Hal. gives bolt in this sense as East. " A bolt of straw/1

"Booby, Booby-wad = 1. — A bundle of rags used for smoking
bees, to drive them away from the spot on which they swarm.
Example — ' Make a booby- wad, Jan, and putt 'n up in tree
vor zmauk the beggars out.1 Informant, J. T. H. 2. — A
bundle of straw used for setting fire to furze, peat, etc.
Example — 'Light the booby, and us 11 zoon zet the vuz
avire/ Informant, T. C— June, 1892. E. P. C."

"Break. A rat was caught in the store-room, and the
butler exclaimed ' She's broke the gin/ I thought he literally
meant that the trap was broken, but found afterwards that
broke was equivalent to ' sprung/ — Dec, 1893. F. B. T."

This is one more use of the word, not to be found in the
almost numberless and exhaustive list in the New Eng. Diet.
The idea is of course derived from to break, in the sense of
to change or alter the condition of continuity of any object.
It is quite common to speak of a beam or a scale breaking
when the article weighed "turns the scale," so the rat, having
caused the lever of the gin to go down, broke the gin.

"Broth. The following rhyme, given to me by T. C, well
illustrates the use of this word as a noun of plural number :

" ' When the broth be wit [white],
They 'm fit ;

When the broth be bowl'd [boiled],
They 'm spowl'd [spoiled]/

•

46 FOURTEENTH REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

This means that broth must not be allowed to boil, but must
be served when a white scum forms on the surface ; that is,
just before the boiling-point is reached. — June, 1895. RP.C."

See W. Som. Word Book, p. 93.

We always say " a few broth," rather than " a little."

" Bull-wollopper = cattle-dealer. Abridged from The
North Devon Herald of August 10, 1893: A certain local
scribe was ' had ' a day or so ago by one of his friends. A
certain young farmer, a non-smoker himself, coyly remarked
that he could oblige him with an ounce packet of Wills' Best
Honey-dew, if he would kindly accept. The servant, at her
master's bidding, went to fetch from upstairs the precious
weed. Presently, down came the maid with the famous red
and gold package. A certain ' bull-wollopper ' happened also
to be present, and his eyes were also enviously directed
towards the packet. This being noticed by the generous
quill-driver, he offered to share the contents, when the
cattle-dealer's eyes gleamed and sailed round his head like
the wooden horses at a steam -circus with delight. The
packet being cut in two, was found to be a dummy, filled
with sawdust. — R P. C."

" By = of, or concerning ; ' Notannaby where/ Years ago I
heard this compound word, or phrase, used as equivalent to
Not that I know of. Is not the use of by for of in this, and
in the commoner lengthened form, ' Not that I know by/ the
same as in the passage in 1 Cor. iv. 4, ' I know nothing by
myself/ &c. ? In looking at a copy of Elizabeth's Private
Prayers, p. 42, I found a note — 'Lo all thynges be fulfilled
that were spoken of the angel by the Virgyn Mari. Thanks
be to GOD/ In the above sentence of and by are inter-
changed. The Latin 'per Angelum de Virgine Maria/ Is not
this really another instance rather of the old meaning of by ?
Spoken of is of course also a Biblical phrase, equivalent to
the modern spoken by. The Middle English Diet quotes,
'Hit is awriten bi [of] him/ {Horn, i. 129.)— H. B. S. W."

These several uses of by are by no means the same ; each
one is treated separately in the W. Som. Word Booky but far
better, and at greater length, in the New Eng. Diet.

" Not that I know by " is the same as the more polished
"Not that I know of"; i.e. concerning, or about. The same
is implied in the sentence "by the Virgin," while the ex-
pression "spoken of," immediately preceding, is a common
form used in the early seventeenth century, where we should
now say "spoken by."

ON DEVONSHIRE VERBAL PROVINCIALISMS. 47

The expression, " by myself," in 1 Cor. iv. 4, and probably
the quotation " that is awriten by him," mean about, in the
sense of against, or prejudicial to. This use of by is
extremely common: "You can't zay nort by her," "Never
yeard nort by un," mean distinctly against her or his reputa-
tion. Whether "awriten bi him" means this, or simply
about him, can only be decided by the context

"Chicket= cheerful. A farmer's wife, aged about 80, said
twice in my presence, 'Her's a nice chicket woman/
apparently meaning cheerful. — August 8, 1893. R P. C."

This is a good old English word, which ought not to be
lost It is clearly an adjectival form of the older French
noun chie. This latter appears to have been re-imported of
late, and to be now considered as slang in English, because
it has become so in French.

The following might be modern Devon speech: "How
blithe wast thou, how buxome, and how chicket." Boileau's
Lutrin, I 335, A.D. 1682. (New Eng. Did.)

" Comb vore. T. C. gives me the following explanation :
'The comb vore is the last solid one, and is generally much
smaller than any of the preceding ones. The all vore finishes
the ridge or cut, and is ploughed a very little deeper than the
preceding one, on the opposite side, which had been ploughed
thinner on purpose, so the comb vore and all vore are both
ploughed the same way, not in opposite directions/ — June,
1895. R P. C."

All vore is explained in the Seventh Report. Comb, in the
West, generally signifies the highest part, or rather the ridge,
as of a roof. In this latter sense it is so used in America —
notably by Mark Twain. See W.Som. Word Book, p. 151.

All Devon people understand the term by which customary
ditch rights are limited, even in the Ordnance maps —
" Three feet from the comb of the hedge." It is often a matter
of discussion where this comb is precisely situated ; but it is
generally considered to be an imaginary line on the top of
the slope of the bank — by no means the centre of the hedge —
many of which are double, and all have a comb on each side.

The comb vore, or furrow, is a shallow one ploughed in the
same direction, and next before the deeper all vore, in ploughing
which latter the soil is turned up upon the smaller one, so as
to make a good comb or ridge to the " bat," as it is called in
North Devon.

These farming-words are of the utmost interest, and ought
to be carefully preserved.

48 FOURTEENTH REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

u CoRBUT = a deep tub, used for salting meat. It is similar
to a Trendle (q.v.), but is smaller and deeper. (T. C.) From
an account of a sale in 1868 I take :

" ' Oak Corbut . . 12s. 6d.'
—June, 1894. R. P. C."

This is most probably written for corbet, i.e. corvet, a
Devon form of cuvette. We have cuve for a vat, which we
write in the West keeve, or kieve. Cf. St Niton's Kieva
Hence a shallow vat may well have been called a cuvet, or
corbet. See cuve, cuvette — New Eng. Diet.

" Cracken = cracked. A farmer's wife, aged about 60, said
to her servant, ' Don't bring the cracken dish.' I have heard
others use the same expression. — June, 1892. R. P. C."

This interesting form is a contraction of crackeden — an
adjective formed from the p. participle, and is precisely
analogous to "boughten" bread. It is not the participle
itself, as in the strong verbs, such as stolen, broken, from steed
and break.

" Crumpetty. An old man, who has for years had a
crippled leg, told me he always was obliged ' to lie crumpetty
like.' I find Murray has ' crump ' in the sense of ' crippley,'
etc., but not ' crumpetty.'— June 26, 1894. A. D. T."

Crump conveys the idea of bent, crooked, as of an old man
bowed with years. The suffix etty is a very common adjectival
form, especially in the West. We have hopety, drinkety,
taffety, and many others, while in literature we find fidgety,
rickety, etc.

" Dabrified = Flowers that were partly faded, I have often
heard called ' dabrified.'— June, 1893. H. B. S. W."

This is, of course, daverified or become davered. See
Eleventh and Twelfth Reports.

" Dag = a cutting, generally of withy, for planting in
hedges, etc. Example : ' I shall plant th' 'adge wai' withy
dags.' Informant : J. T. H.— June, 1892. R. P. C."

See Barnes' Dorset Glossary "A small projecting stump
of a branch."

In Somerset, dag is mostly used with end as an adjective,
meaning the pointed or straightest end — as the dag-end of a
sheaf, or of a faggot.

" Done to Jouds. A workman, complaining that the meat
provided for his dinner was overboiled, remarked, 'Why, 'tis
all done to jouds.'— June, 1893. H. B. S. W."

Hal. gives jowd, a jelly, Devon ; jowds, rags, Devon.

ON DEVONSHIRE VERBAL PROVINCIALISMS. 49

" Dummel. In Jefferies' Toilers of the Field, page 95, there
is a passage descriptive of the farm labourer who, ' about six
or half-past (he) reaches home thoroughly saturated, worn
out, cross, and dummel. This expresses the dumb, sullen
churlishness which such a life engenders.' — H. B. S. W."

Not Devonshire.

" Frith. In a lease for 99 years, determinable upon three
lives, made by Marshall Ayer, of Venottery, 21 May, 30 Car.
IL, occurs the provision that on the death of each life a
sum of 30s. is to be paid by way of heriot or ' farlien.' The
same lease also provides that the lessee is to have ' fireboote,
frith, and stakes ' without waste. What does ' frith ' mean
here ?— May, 1895. 0. K."

Usually called vreth. Young underwood or brushwood.
Suitable for wreathing, or, as we call it, raddling. In Sussex
this is called Frith. See Parrish, Sussex Gloss.; also W.
Som. Word Book, s.v. Vreath.

" Graveun = the spawn of salmon. From The North Devon
Herald of 18th Jan., 1894 : ' A Barnstaple net-fisherman
writes: Will any one of the Taw Protection people also
answer me as to whether the rod-and-line gentlemen do not
destroy more salmon in March and April by catching what
they call "salmon fry" by the basketful than any forty boats
and nets destroy in two years?' 'Salmon fry* is what is
commonly called ' salmon gravelling.9 — B. P. C."

" Hedge-tacker = a repairer of hedges. (Pron. adge-tackeO
Informants : T. C. ; B. P.— June, 1892. E. P. C."
This is hedgfrrtaker, i.e. undertaker.

"KNUCKS = the game of knuckle-bones, frequently played
with winkle shells (called wrinkle shells, locally). Informant :
J. T. H.— June, 1892. E. P. C."

" Larch = to awake (?). The local rhyme about the cuckoo
is as follows : —

" • In March 'a begin'th to larch ;
In April 'a zoun'th his bell ;
In May 'a zing'th both night an* day ;
In June 'a alter'th his toon ;
And in July away 'a dith vly.'

"What the meaning of larch is, nobody seems to know; the
word may be a mere jingle to rhyme with March. Informants:
T. C, and others.

50 FOURTEENTH REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

" The following Devonshire variants are given in NorthaH's
English Folk-Rhymes, p. 267 : —

" * In March, the guku beginth to sarch ;
In Aperal, he beginth to tell ;
In May, he beginth to lay* etc.
"And p. 269:

" ' In March, he sits upon his perch,9 etc.
—April, 1893. R. P. C."

The above three versions prove that the word rhyming
with March is an indefinite quantity. To lurch is quite as
good, if not better than perch, because it is more expressive,
to lurch being in its oldest form to lurk, or lie in wait
Hence the cuckoo waits in March before he sings.

"Larra. The Receiver-General of Exeter's Accounts for
1752 have—

" « Mr Sam1 Di y -k*1™

M.&am.uix 5Q4 at6dprLarra £12 12s. 0d.'

"The above is on a page headed 'Racks in the Great
Shelly/ I find Hal. gives ' Laras, any round pieces of wood
turned by the turners. Devon.* Possibly, therefore, Larras
may have some connection with this, and may refer to
spindles or framework, or some implement used in serge-
making. Mr. Campion, however, suggests that it is connected
with arras = tapestry, and that they paid 6d. for each piece of
serge.— Dec, 1893. F. B. T."

In the above connection this is a well-known technical
word. A rack for stretching cloth, of the kind used in the
last century, and to this day when the cloth is dried out of
doors, consists of three parts —

1. The " posts " at regular intervals, fixed in a straight line
in the ground.

2. The " pollsheets " are fixed horizontally upon the top of
the posts, having a continuous line of rack or tenter-hooks
to hold the upper edge of the cloth.

3. The " larras," or movable bars, jointed together between
each upright, so that they can slide up or down upon the
post. A rack-larra is always of oak, about 7 ft. 6 in. long,
and sawn about 5 in. square. There is a corresponding row
of hooks in the larras, and when the wet piece is in its place,
the larras are forced down with a lever until the cloth is of
even width and of the required breadth. It remains in the
rack until dry.

The separate bars or shuttles of a gate or stile are called
larras. See Sixth Report ; also TV. Som. Word Book.

ON DEVONSHIRE VERBAL PROVINCIALISMS. 51

" Lizzum = a stripe or streak (?). Whilst picking snails out
of the crannies in his garden wall, B. P. said, 'There's a
proper lizzum o' mun.' T. C. informs me that a Dorsetshire
labourer used to speak of corn being sown in lizzums, mean-
ing in stripes or streaks. — June, 1892. R P. C."

A lissum is usually one of the strands of a rope ; hence a
line ; hence a straight row.

Hal. has Lissum — a narrow strip of anything. Somerset

"Looking from under Brent Hill. From Notes and

Queries, 8th S. iii. 433 : ' It strikes me that " looking from

under Brent Hill" is the very opposite of the "sullen, frowning

[look] of one in ill humour." " Brent " means without a

wrinkle. Thus, of John Anderson, in his palmy days, Burns

says, " his locks were like the raven " and his " bonnie brow

was brent" (without a wrinkle). Gazing from "under Brent

Hill" is looking fondly at another, as a loving person does

when he turns his eyes upwards and gazes in silent admiration.

In what Milton calls " heavenly contemplation," child angels

and saints so gaze with upturned eyes.' — See Thirteenth

Report, p. 16. R. P. C."

u Maiden's ruin = the herb southern- wood, more commonly
known as Boy's love (J. A.).— June, 1894. K. P. C."

This plant, Artemisia Abrotanum, is known by many names
— Britten gives the following: Apple-riennie, Averoyne,
Boy's Love, Kiss-me-quick-and-go, Lad Savour, Lad's Love,
Maiden's Ruin, Maid's Love, Old Man, Old Man's Love,
Overenyie, Slovenwood, Smelling-wood, Southern-wood.

"Martin heifer. See last Report, 1893. 'The Breeding
°f Cattle. — I find from long experience that in pairs of
calves (male or female), the heifer is what we call a martin
heifer, and never breeds by any chance.' From Field and
fireside, Nov. 3, 1893.— F. B. T."

Pairs in the above, of course, means a twin male and
female.

u Michard = a truant (rhymes with Richard). A gentleman
°f Bratton Clovelly, aged about 50, tells me the following
Ayme was in use at Northmolton some years ago :

" ' Blackberry michard,
Blueberry snail,
All the dogs in the town
Hang to thy tail.'

R is noticeable that in the rhyme the final d is always
pronounced, as in liard, scholard, etc., but in ordinary talk it
^1 think, generally dropped. A 'blackberry michard' is,

52 FOURTEENTH REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

of course, one who stays away from school to pick black-
berries ; but what is a ' blueberry snail ' ? The following
quotation from Shakespeare is given in the W. Som. Word
Book, under Meecher :

' Falstaff. Shall the blessed sun of heaven prove a micher
and eat blackberries ? ' 1 Henry IV. ii 4. — Oct. 1894.
R. P. C.

The final d is here the point of most importance, making
a peculiar feature of Western speech. To many syllables
ending in I, n, r, it is added, as in the above, and in " bout o'
vine mild yer-vrom"; also in tailder, fineder, vurder (the
latter preserved in the literary further), zoonder, etc. On
the other hand, we find the d frequently dropped when
following the same liquids in words belonging to literary
English — "Pint o' miT ale" is a curious but unvariable
instance, while child, wild, field, yield, scald, emerald, old,
fold, scold, land, hand, hound, find, and many others always
drop the d when spoken in our vernacular. On this see
W. Som. Word Book, p. 178 ; and caudal for coed or cau'd,
under Nattled (post).

The word itself is one of the commonest in old literature ;
it originally meant a petty, sneaking thief, and its use to
signify a truant is of comparatively recent date. See W. Som.
Word Book, s.v. Meeching ; also Twelfth Keport.

Blueberry -snail cannot be explained except as a foil to
Blackberry michard. These rhymes are often mere words
without meaning — comp. Larch (ante).

" Mure = barrel-stand. J. A., a Bideford tradesman, aged
55, informs me that his father always used this word. I
find it in a valuation made in 1836; it comes under the
heading * Dairy/ between the entries ' trundle ' and ' corbut.'
A more usual word is jib. June, 1894 R P. C."

" Mushelrooms = mushrooms. From The North Devon
Herald of October 19, 1893 : ' It was amusing, too, to hear a
round-faced, pudding-headed youngster yell out to us as we
passed through the village afterwards, " I zay, maister, how
much du'e ax vor yer mushelrooms a pound ? " ' — R P. C."

This word is very commonly pronounced with three
syllables by country-folk, and they have less corrupted the
French moumron than the polite people who as usual laugh
at them. In Mid. Eng. the word was written as a trisyllable.

Muscheron — toodyshatte. Promp. Parv.

Mouscheron — a mushrome. Cotgrave.

See W. Som. Ward Book, p. 495.

ON DEVONSHIRE VERBAL PROVINCIALISMS. 53

u Nadgebs = the boys' game of nicking or notching pocket-
knives by striking their edges together at right angles. The
usual namc^June, 1892. K. P. C."

This word is a contraction of in or on-edgers. The
insertion of final r is very common. Comp. legger, toer, as in
the legger field — war* leggers ! war* toers !

Upon this r, see W. Som. Dialect, p. 20.

wNakraway= Norway. J. A. informs me that Norway
stone is always spoken of as ' Narraway stone/ — June, 1894
E. P. C."

This insertion of a short a or y sound in dissyllables is
very common, though peculiar to Devon and W. Somerset.
Comp. Flop-a-dock, Eleventh Eeport; also W. Som. Word
Book, p. 257.

" Nattled = of sheep, etc., affected with liver rot, caudcd.
(B. P.)— June, 1892. R. P. C."

" Neggar = rogue, rascal (rhymes with beggar). This is a
very common term of abuse at Hartland, and is used in such
sentences as, 'Kom yur [come here], you young neggar!'
'Th' oaT neggar wud'n gee ma wan bit.' Peter Pindar has
the following :

" ' I 'm tould, and I believe 't is true,
There is not in Burdett's whole crew

Dree honest men among mun ;
Though carrin negers, mangy curs,
Oh ! how I lang to comb their furs !
Oh, d — n it ! how I 'd thong mun !
" * They shud ha zom veow honest men,
At least 'bout one or two in ten ;

But, zounds 1 they 've none at all —
And if we sarch the crew all round,
Lord, Lord ! what iz there to be vound,
Examine gert and small ? '

— Middlesex Election, Letter v., st. 14, 15.
" Has the word any connection with assneger, which seems
to be the Cornish and Devonshire form of the assineyo of
Elizabethan writers ? Peter Pindar uses this word also :
" ' Horses and mares, assnegcrs, movies.'

— TJu Royal Visit to Exeter, part i, stanza 4.

"The word neggar, however, may be only the local

pronunciation of niggard or nigger. — October, 1894. E. P. C."

This has nothing to do with assneger.

The second example given above completely explains it, to

be niggard, %.e. stingy (chicfie, taquin, eschars, caqueduc,

54 FOURTEENTH REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

Cotgrave). From this we get our commonest of sayings,
" Too near to be honest," and hence, as above, it is used as a
synonym for thief.

Originally this word was nygun in Mid. Eng.

"And was swy\e coveytous,
And a nygun and avarous,
And gadred pens vnto store,
As okerers done ayrhorc"
— A.D. 1303, R. Mannynq of Brunne. (" The Tale of
Pers the Usurer") "Handlyng Synne," 1. 5577.
" My brother is a nyggoun, I swer by Ohristes ore"

— Coke's Tale of Gamelyn, 1. 323.

The change of un into ard is due, according to Skeat, to
French influence, and we can fix an approximate date to the
change, from the fact that Chaucer uses the word in both old
and modern forms — as above, and in —

11 For nygart never with strengths of honde
May vnjnne gret lordschip or londe."

— « Romaunt of the Rose," 1. 1175 ; also 1. 5376.
"Nay, doubteles ! for, al-so God me save,
So parfite joie may no nygard ne have"

— " Troylus and Cryseyde," 1. 1329.

" Niggelling. I have often heard the conduct of a person
who was very particular about the expenditure of trifling
sums, and who might almost be called mean, described by
this word, 'So-and-so has such niggelling ways/ — June, 1893.
H. B. S. W."

Niggling is good English in the sense here given. No
doubt, it is a verbalised form of niggard — to niggle is to be
a niggard.

" Nornigig or Nornigging. In The North Devon Herald,
Oct. 4th, 1894, is an account of an interview with a former
North Devon journalist, from which I extract the following :

'There was one word I didn't find in it (Mrs. Hewett's
Peasant Speech of Devon), and that is " nornigig." '

1 But what is the meaning of nornigig ? '

'I 'm sure I don't know; perhaps Mrs. Hewett can tell you.
But I will tell you under what circumstances I heard the
word. A good dame, in a village not far from Barnstaple,
had boiled down some lard, and put the gruels in the oven.
Her husband came in with the firewood, and at once threw
it into the oven to dry. Then his wife gave him the length
of her tongue, and among other phrases she applied to him
was that of " a nornigging gert lout." '

ON DEVONSHIRE VERBAL PROVINCIALISMS. 55

" Perhaps some of your readers will be able to give you the
derivation of the word.

" From The North Devon Herald of 8th Nov., 1894 :

"'I wish/ Mrs. Hewett remarks, 'to write in reply to his
question about the word nomigig. I never heard that word.
I believe he must have misspelt it; or, perhaps, did not
catch the correct pronunciation. There is norting used in
the sam e sense, thus :

" ' "Yii norting gert twoad" (or "towad" or some such term
of endearment/)— October, 1894. E. P. C."

" ' Norting = empty-headed ; stupid, careless, good-for-
nothing, etc/— E. P. C."

"PiLER = an implement, formed like a gridiron, with a long
upright handle, and used for cutting off the beard or awn
(locally zears or ties) of barley. (J. A.) — June, 1894. E. P. C."

To pile is by no means uncommon, in the sense above
used, and hence the name of the instrument, oftener known,
however, as the barley-stamp.

" Ploizy = soft, weak, ready to fray out — applied to cloth,
rope, or other fibrous material. Example, ' The clath is cruel
ploizy trade; I reckon twan't laste no time 't all/ Informants :
J. T. H., T. C, and others.— June, 1892. E. P. C."

" Poke. In Plymouth one man was heard to call another,
at some distance, to come to him. The second had an
ordinary sack partly filled (with rags, &c), and was taking it
up, when the first shouted, ' Never mind the poke/ and the
other then left the sack where it was on the pavement, and
went to his comrade. — June, 1895. H. B. S. W."

This is a good old word not often heard in the West — so
seldom, indeed, that although found in the dictionaries as
literary English, we may well include it among our
Provincialisms.

Ang.-Sax. Pocca — a pouch, poke, lag.

Old French. Poque— old Norman diminutive poiupiette,
whence our pocket

The Ang.-Sax., according to Du Cange, was from the Low
Latin pochia.

Chaucer writes :

" Certes were it gold,
Or in a poke nobles al untold,
Ye schul him have, as I am a trewe smyth."

The Mtilere's Tale, 1. 581.

Pooke, sacculus.

56 FOURTEENTH REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

Walette, seek, or poke, sistarcia — sarciunada, bisaccia.
Promp. Parv.

Poche, a pocket, pouch, or poke; also a meal-sack, or corn-sack.
Acheter chat en poche, to bug a pig in a poke. Cotgrave.

"Proverbs. T. C. informs me that 'Teach your grand-
mother to lap ashes ' is a common variant of the well-known
proverb, 'Teach your grandmother to suck eggs.1 — June,
1894. R. P. C."

" Used in the South of Devon, and apparently as if ashes
= hashes. R. N. W."

"To go through the hoop. I was told to-day that a
certain party who took some shares in a railway, in spite of
warnings, had ' lived long enough to see his money had gone
through the hoop.9 The first shareholders never received any
return, and, of course, their shares are practically worthless.
—June, 1893. EL B. S. W."

Hoop here doubtless signifies sieve, and so forms an
obvious illustration.

" Quat = quiet, dead, collapsed (rhymes with what). This
is frequently used at Hartland in such sentences as ' Politics
be a-go quat, I sim' (meaning that nothing is now heard of

them), and ' Old is a-go quat ' (meaning that he has lost

his position, either socially or financially, or, according to
the common slang phrase, 'he has gone to pot'). — October,
1894. R. P. C."

The idea is that of quiescence, or going to sleep.

Ducks and pigs, after a full meal, are said ' to go quat,' ix.
to subside, to lie quiet. A good old phrase. See W. Som.
Word Book, p. 604.

" Ragg. The accounts of the Receiver-General of Exeter
for 1752 have : ' Robert Penny a Cott and Ragg at Maudlin
Millhead, in St. Sidwell's parish.,— December, 1893. F. B. T."

This means strip (of ground). The ends of the " pieces "
cut off by the Exeter clothiers were called rags ; in Somerset
they are raps ; hence in Devon they applied their term to a
strip or length -of anything — commonly of land ; here in
Somerset we do the like, and " a rap o' ground," " a rap o*
garden " are the usual phrases.

" Ranch = to rinse. Example — ' Ranch out the milk-pans
well/ Informant : B. P.— June, 1892. R. P. C."

Ranch is the same as rinse, broadly sounded, probably
from the influence of "to range," i.e. to sift by the same
undulating motion of the " range," as is used to swill out the
milk-pans.

ON DEVONSHIRE VERBAL PROVINCIALISMS. 57

" Basparated = exasperated. Charwoman at Rockbeare,
near Exeter, describing an occurrence, said, 'I was that
rasparated,' &c— December 2, 1893. F. B. T."

Too good an adaptation to be lost.

"REGRATER=a person who buys poultry, butter, eggs, and
porkers in the country, or in a provincial market, and re-sells
them in the larger towns. (Pron. ray-grater.) T. C. informs
me that two or three used to go from Woolsery to Plymouth
weekly, and another friend (native of Bratton Clovelly, aged
about 50) tells me that this name was given to the man
who bought in Tavistock market, and re-sold in Plymouth
market, either wholesale or retail. At Hartland this word
has practically the same meaning as troacher. (See Thirteenth
Report, p. 26.) Hal. and Wright give 'Regrater — a retailer
(A. N.).'— October, 1894. R. P. C."

Although not now common, this is perfectly good English
for huckster, higgler.

Cotgrave has, Eegrateur — an huckster, mender, dresser,
scourer, trimmer up of old things far sale.

LUtre — Eegrat — Vente en detail, &c. The same word is
even found in Italian. Eigattiere — a huckster, petty dealer.

" Re-neg = to fail to follow suit at cards, to revoke. ' He
re-neg'd oaks (clubs) laste rounV (T. C.) — August, 1894.
R P. C."

Hal. has: " Reneg, to announce or call a suit at some
games at cards." Devon.

"Reve. In a case drawn for counsel's opinion by an
Exeter solicitor, dated 10th October, 1806, a payment of
2s. 8d. is claimed by the lord as chief-rent, but is stated to
be due only in respect of a 'reve.' Counsel, in his reply,
states that whether the sum was due as a chief-rent or for
the 'rave9 is a matter of fact to be settled by a jury. The
yeoman to whom these documents belonged could not tell
me what a 'reve1 was, but instantly recognised the word
1 rave ' as a familiar term for a swinging or suspended water
gate.— May, 1895. 0. R"

See Twelfth Report.

" Shred of grass. The accounts of the Receiver-General
of Exeter for 1752, p. 1, have : ' George Wills, one field near
Carlos Cross for the shred of grass growing in the said field,
containing about 4£ acres, called Culversland, formerly ffords,
and the after mowth to Lady-day next for £5 10s. Od.' —
December 2, 1893. F. B. T."

This would now be shear of grass, meaning the main

VOL. xxvn. E

58 FOURTEENTH REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

spring crop. The above is merely the use of the past
participle instead of the present tense.

" Snite = snipe. (J. A.) June, 1894. R P. C,"

"SpiLSHY = lean, thin. T. C. said to me, 'He's very
spilshy,1 and explained it by saying he supposed the word
meant ' like a spilchard, or pilchard.' Of course, the letter s
is sometimes prefixed to words in this way, as snotch for
notch, splat for plot, squinch for quench, squat and quat,
spize and pize, scrumple for crumple, scrawl for crawl, scrap
and crap, etc.— 6th August, 1893. E. P. C."

"Spring. The cook told me that she had weighed a
turkey, and 'she sprung the scales at seven pounds and a
half/— Dec, 1893. F. B. T."

See Break, ante.

" Stewer = the dust in a barn. (J. A.) The word is also
applied to any commotion or disturbance : ' 'Ot a stewer
thee 't a-makin' o', shoar nuff/— June, 1894. B. P. C."

This is stir.

" Strake = to stroll, to ' mooch.' Example, ' Looky to the
lazy young beggar, W 'a straketh along/ Informant : T. C.
This word occurs in Brither Jan's visit ta tha Crismiss Panty-
mime, by W. Hare, p. 5 —

" ' 'Bout hafF pas zix I straked down,
An* zeed tha peeple stannin* roun'
Tha doors/

—April, 1893. E. P. C."
Hal., To go, to proceed, &c.

The stormes straked vnth the wynde,
The wawes to-bote bifore and bihynde.

— Cursor Mundi (quot. by Hal.).
Not to be found in the E. E. T.— Ed.
The notion implied is that of the original strek — to stretch
— like young cattle or dogs do when rising up from sleep.
In Somerset we use the expression in "rake-out."
See W. Som. Word Book, p. 610.
See Cursor Mvmdi, E. E. T.t pt. i., 1. 940.

"STRARE-PARK=the name of a field to which cattle were
transferred from the Pound, when they were not claimed
within a certain time. (T. C.) The 'keep* had to be paid
for by the owner before the cattle were returned to him.
Query. — Should not this be Stray-a-Park = park for stray
cattle ?— June, 1894. E. P. C."

ON DEVONSHIRE VERBAL PROVINCIALISMS. 59

This surely is Strayer-park, or paddock, for these are
synonymous. Park is a very common second name for
pasture fields; Broad-park, King-park, Stony -park are known
to the writer.

"TRENDLR=--a large, shallow, oval tub, made of wood or
earthenware, and used for many purposes, chiefly for curing
bacon. Sometimes called trundle. Both words are in
common use. — June, 1894. B. P. C."
Ang.-Sax. trendil.

Mod. High Germ, trendil. (Stratmann.)
Churchwardens' Accounts, Som. Bee. Society —
" A.D. 1494. Item xxj trendy llys. (p. 119.)

„ Payd for hopyng a trendelle of ye church iijd.

(p. 135.)
„ of hym for an old tryndell, vjd." (p. 163.)

The oval tub in which a pig is " scalded " is always called
a trcndlc ; pronunciation of medial c, ad lib.

"Troacher. (See Thirteenth Eeport.) The following
extract shows that the particular meaning given by me is
not confined to the locality of Hartland :

" ' For a generation he had worked as a miner at Wheal
Dusty ; and when the sea broke in and flooded the workings
of the mine, he joined his wife in the business of trocher,
which is to say, collector and retailer of eggs, poultry, and
such-like produce of the country-side. And for the last ten
years of his life he lived (as once he phrased it) upon the
charity of God/ ( Wreckers and Methodists, by H. D. Lowry,
London, 1893, pp. 203-4)— June, 1894. See Thirteenth
Eeport. B. P. C."

" Thorty = thoughtless, half-witted, stupid (th pronounced
as in though, not as in thought). T. C. said, ' They '11 have a
lopping old 'oss, and a thorty driver/ — August 6, 1893.
E. P. C."

The pronunciation suggests thwarty, i.e. cross-grained, left-
handed.

"TuFFET = a tuft of rank grass. (B. P.) Same as mock,
mop. W. Som. Word Book— June, 1892. E. P. C."

This is only the local pronunciation of tuft. Western
bucolic speech scorns difficult combinations like ft, bd, pt,
&c., and so • inserts a " natural vowel," which may be
represented in spelling by either a, e, i, o, or u indifferently.

The alternative is to omit the offending dental consonant.

Familiar examples of both uses are roun-topptd (round-

topt), and right or lef.

e 2

60 REPORT ON DEVONSHIRE VERBAL PROVINCIALISMS.

" Vady = tainted, 'high/ applied to meat. Example —
' I sim the mait 's got a bit vady.' Informant : B. P. — June,
1892. E. P. C."

Compare Eleventh Keport.

Tainted meat is often the effect of damp.

" Watertabling = the muddy soil cleared out of the
gutters or 'water-tables' by the sides of the roads. From
the Day-book of a Landcross farmer, I take :

"'1850, Nov. 9. J.Ford.
2 single horse-buts drawing watertabling . . 7s. Od.
A man to help load . . . Is. 4d.'

"In the Hartland Church Accounts, 1617-8, the term
' water-tables ' is applied to the leaden gutters on the roof of
the church : ' Paid John Saunder for one daies work 14d. for
putting in water tables of lead and 2 other with hym 13d.
the day the whole is 3s. 4d.'— June, 1894. E. P. C."

" Wolgar, a variant of welger = the basket willow, or osier.
(See Dialect of Hartland, p. 83.) T. C. informs me that this
is the usual pronunciation in Landcross parish. I take the
following entries from the Day-book of a Landcross farmer :

" ' 1852, Mar. 9. Berry, 12 bolts wolgars at Is. Id. per bolt.

" ' 1853, Apl. 13. Let Berry the wolgar plot, Is. a bundle
next year, and £1 a year after Lady-day next/ — June,
1894. E. P. C."

The gar or ger, no doubt, means goar or rod — same as goad.

Wol or wel is perhaps wil (d) ; hence the word would be
simply wild-sticks, i.e. withies.

"Zeary = threadbare. T. C. said, 'I don't know but what
his trousers are getting zeary.' The word also means ill,
seedy, as 'Her's cruel zeary to-day, maister.' — Aug. 6, 1893.
E. P. C."

Zeary and zeedy may be the same — t, d% and r, medial, in
Devonshire lips are almost identical. The late Mr. A. J. Ellis
persisted in writing taties with an r medial, from the present
writer's pronunciation, oft repeated.

THIRTEENTH REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE
ON DEVONSHIRE FOLK-LORE.

Thirteenth Report of the Committee — consisting of Mr.
P. F. S. Amery (Secretary), Mr. D. Ogilvie Evans, Rev.
W. Harpley, Mr. P. Q. Karkeek, Mrs. Radford, Mr. J.
Brooking Rome, Mrs. Troup, and Mr. H. B. 8. Woodhouse
— appointed for the purpose of collecting notes on
Devonshire Folk-Lore.

Edited by P. F. S. Amery, Honorary Secretary.
(Read at Okehampton, July, 1895.)

The scraps of Devonshire Folk-Lore received by the Secretary
since the last report are given below ; they chiefly refer to
charms and prayers over the sick. The fragments of charms
by a farmer's wife on the western side of Dartmoor are
given as she wrote them out, and show the pronunciation in
which they were uttered. The Rev. S. Baring-Gould
contributes some strange superstitions, and a legend of
S. Francom, the Brewers' patron ; and the Rev. S. G. Harris
a funeral custom at Churston. A valuable collection has
been received from Dr. R. Ackerley, M.A-, b.Ch. (Oxon.), who
for five years practised in the neighbourhood of Dartmoor,
in which he gives his experience of the superstitions of the
country people in sickness. Several of the matters mentioned
have been previously recorded; but as the dates and localities
are authenticated, and the whole are given from a medical
point of view, they are fully entered, as variations of interest
may be discovered, by comparison, which should add to their
value.

Miss Saunders, of Southmolton, has furnished a list of
sobriquets given by inhabitants of some parishes to their
neighbours ; it is hoped this list will be extended.

A veTy interesting confirmation of the traditiou of Lithwell,

62 THIRTEENTH REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

or Lidwell Chapel, recorded in the last report, which has
come to light since it was presented at the Southmolton
meeting, is also given, as it tends to illustrate the value of
recording all such floating matter.

Mr. Woodhouse sends some police-court cuttings, and the
notice of the fatal result of a May-day custom.

The Secretary, on behalf of the Committee, desires to
thank all who have assisted him in collecting the various
scraps here recorded. W. Harpley, Chairman.

P. F. S. Amery, Secretary.

LEGENDARY.

TJie Legend of Lithwell Chapel. — In the last Eeport of this
Committee (Trans. Devon. Assoc, xxvi. 81) the legend of
Lithwell, Lidwell, or Ladywell Chapel, near Dawlish, was
recorded by Mrs. Hewett. Since its publication, Mr. Worth
has called attention to a curious confirmation of the main
facts of the tradition on which the legend is founded. The
full story will be found given in choice ecclesiastical Latin in
#the first volume of Bishop Grandisson's Register, under date
of May, 1329 (p. 493), published by the Eev. Prebendary
Hingeston-Randolph, who has brought the wicked priest to
light, although Mr. Worth is responsible for connecting him
with the chapel. The culprit, Robert of Middelcote, after
being more than a year in prison, prayed the Bishop that he
might be excused for his bad conduct on due purgation.
The Bishop appointed Thomas of Stonforde, senior, of
Chagford, and Matthew of Crouthorn, bailiff of the liberty
of Teygnemouthe Episcopi, as a commission, who on enquiry
found that on Monday next after the festival of the
Annunciation, 28th March, 1328, the said Robert had
committed a rape upon a certain Agnes, daughter of Roger
the miller, in the chapel of the Blessed Mary the Virgin at
" la Wallen," which is evidently Lawallen or Lithwell. That
on 27th April following he had broken into the house of
Robert Rossel, at Fonhalle, in Wonford Hundred, and stolen
3s. 4d. in money, fourpennyworth of bread, a horn worth a
shilling, and three keys worth sixpence. Between whiles,
after the feast of St. Ambrose — April 4th — he had robbed
Walter Scoria of a couple of shillings, and also had robbed
certain persons unknown, on the high road between Teign-
mouth and Haldon, "inter Teygnmouthe et Montem de
Hayeldowne " ; wherefore he is declared to be a common
thief. The Bishop complied with the petition, on condition
that the purgation should take place in a church, or other

ON DEVONSHIRE FOLK-LORE. 63

public spot. We are not told what became of Robert, but
the legend attests the fact that he never redeemed his
character in the public estimation. Though his name has
long been lost, his evil memory has clung round Lithwell for
more than five hundred years, to be now identified.

P. F. S. A.

SUPERSTITIOUS CHARMS AND OBSERVANCES.

In 1879 a farmer on the west side of Dartmoor, whose
name I know, and also the name of his farm, having had
sickness among his cattle, sacrificed a sheep and burned it on
the moor above his farm, as an offering to the pysgies. The
cattle at once began to recover, and did well after, nor were
there any fresh cases of sickness among them. He spoke of
the matter as by no means anything to be ashamed of, or
that was likely to cause surprise. I do not, however, wish to
give his name. S. Baring-Gould.

At Ashreigney a few years ago, on the pulling down of a
cottage, in the chimney was found a heart, diced up, covered
with soot, and stuck full of pins.

I remember about thirty-five years ago a case brought
before my father, as magistrate, of a man who had put nails,
hair, and flesh, stuck with pins, by night under a neighbour's
doorstep. He was observed doing this, and the person whose
doorstep had been tampered with desired to have a summons
taken out against the man who had tried thereby to bewitch
him. S. Baring-Gould.

At Chittlehamholt was an old woman who had bewitched,
or was thought to have bewitched, some neighbours, and sent
them aches and pains. Those who believed themselves to
have been bewitched got a toad, pierced it on a board that
was balanced in the middle on a log, and then dealt a heavy
and sudden blow at the end of the board opposite to that on
which was the reptile. This sent the toad flying into the
air into space, and where it came down was not seen. This
was called "lifting the witch." The toad was supposed to
represent her. My informant witnessed the proceeding, some
fifty years ago. S. Baring-Gould.

A woman of the name of Anne Abell lived in one of my
cottages. She died in 1881, aged 82 years. She was reputed
to be a " white- witch," and had full belief in her own powers,
which she often assured me were always exercised for good.
She had, it was believed, remarkable power in stanching
blood, reducing swellings, and healing sores. On one occasion

64 THIRTEENTH REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

a man in mowing, at Kelly, cut his leg with the scythe. At
once the farmer sent a kerchief, wet with the blood from the
wound, by the hand of a man riding on his fleetest horse, to
Mrs. Abell, who blessed the kerchief. At the same time the
blood was stanched in the wound. S. Baring-Gould.

In the Taw valley, at Eggesford, Burrington, etc., there
exists a saying that the 19th, 20th, or 21st May, or three
days near that time, are " Francimass " or "St. Frankin's
days," and that then comes on a frost that does much injury
to the blossom of apples. The story relative to this frost
varies slightly. According to one versionx there was a
brewer, of the name of Frankan, who found that cider ran
his ale so hard that he vowed his soul to the Devil on the
condition that he would send three frosty nights in May to
cut off the apple-blossom annually.

The other version of the story is that the brewers in North
Devon entered into compact with the Evil One, and promised
to put deleterious matter into their ale on condition that the
Devil should help them by killing the blossom of the apple-
trees. Accordingly, whenever these May frosts come, we
know that his Majesty is fulfilling his part of the contract,
because the brewers have fulfilled theirs by adulterating
their beer. According to this version, St. Frankin is an
euphemism for Satan.

Told me at Chawleigh and at Burrington, August, 1894.

S. Baring-Gould.

The Rev. S. G. Harris, Eector of Highweek, Newton
Abbot, reports a tradition, current among the old people at
Churston Ferrers, when he was curate there from 1856 to
1861, that it had been the custom for funerals from the
village of Churston, on proceeding by what was called the
"lich" road to their ancient burial-ground at Brixham, to
diverge from the said " lich " road near the commencement of
it, and walk solemnly round a pile of stones, where it was
supposed a cross once stood, near which religious worship
was celebrated, or, as an old legend affirmed, where the
church would have been built but for the interference of the
author of evil. He has been unable to verify the tradition
by the production of the date of the last observance; nor
can he find any old person now living who remembers the
practice. The only approach to a verification which he has
been able recently to discover is the recollection of an old
man of Churston parish, who has known the place for sixty-
five years, and although he does not remember to have seen

ON DEVONSHIRE FOLK-LORE. 65

the pile of stones, and believes that the wall which blocks
the access to the spot was built a great many years ago, he
has heard the old folk talk of it when he was a boy.

CHARMS AND PRAYERS.

The following has been sent by a lady member of the
Association, who writes: "The charms must, I think, be
fragments of the originals. The Dartmoor farmer's wife,
from whom we had them, said her mother had a book full
of charms, from which she had copied these, having great
faith in their efficacy. Some of the words are very curious,
and the spelling of others is original. Absurd as these
charms seem, the good woman used them with the greatest
reverence, and evidently considered them as prayers to God ;
indeed, one day she asked me whether the Bible did not tell
us to pray to God for healing. I think she and ' faith
healers/ who would have despised her, cannot be very far
apart" P. F. S. A.

Blessing for Strain. — As Christ was riding over cross a
Bridge, his leg hee took and blessed it, and said thiss words :

" Bone to Bona Sinnes to Sinnes. Vains to Vains." Hee
blessed it, and it come hole again.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost Amen.

Blessing for Enflammation. — Our dear Lord Saviour Jesus
Christ hee sawe Joseph lying on the cold ground thy side-
lese year.

Joseph — I are stricken sordbolt, sordbolt, sordbolt, stricken
stabing, pricking, aching ; I know not what to do.

Our dear Saviour — Take up thy Bed and walk.

Our dear Lord saw Jesus Christ and pailet sit at the gate
of Jerusalem weeping. Faith I hope the Lord will Bless it
to thee wherever it is.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost

If any pursens body shall come oute, I have bine told
that thiss is a shour cover for that Come Plant :

You must go ware a man is dead ; you must have a Pice
of is shroud tich the Dead body ; you must cote of a pice,
shave it up to Lent, put it to the woond. Scet it in the body
togeather the part of thiss shroud. You must put it in the
grave way the dead body againe, so as thiss Body De Cayres
so thiss Come Plant will haill up.

From Southmolton. Charm for thorn in flesh. — Our
Blessed savour Came Down from heaven, was pricked with

66 THIRTEENTH REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

a thorne, bis Blood went up to heaven again, his flesh Neither

Kankered, Eankled, nor fustured, Neither shall thine N ,

in the name of father, &c, &c. Amen. H. S.

Our Savour Christ was Prick with thorns, Never Eankled

Never fustered, No more shant thine, Wm. P . Out of

the Bone into the fleash, out of the fleash into the skin, out
of the skin into the Earth, in the Name of the father, &c, &c.
Amen. H. S.

Charms and Superstitions Encountered in a Country
Practice. Contributed by Dr. B. Ackerley, m.a., b.Ch. (Oxon.),
who for five years (1889-1894) practised on the border of
Dartmoor.

My first introduction to the superstitions of the West was
a child brought to me from some distance, suffering from
typical infantile paralysis of some months' duration. I tried
to explain to the mother what had happened to the diseased
muscles, and what could and could not be done for the child.
The question she wanted me to answer was, " Had the child
been overlooked?" In my ignorance I thought she meant
" neglected," and tried to persuade her that she had apparently
taken all proper care of the child. No ; she was convinced

the child had been overlooked by a " nasty old ," whose

husband and her own had quarrelled. In other words, the
child had been " ill-wished," or affected by " the evil eye."

I was at the same time attending a girl in a cottage
hospital, in the second attack of perityphlitis. She got on
very well, and after a lengthened stay in the hospital went
home. About a week later, after an injudicious meal of
pork and onions taken after a long walk, the girl had some
return of the symptoms, and I took her into the hospital
again. After a few days' rest and proper diet she was again
discharged. Some months afterwards I learned the reason
for this rapid recovery. A brother, in despair at his sister
having, as he thought, a third attack of this mysterious
disease, went over to a neighbouring town, and consulted the
"White Witch." (Witches are not at all uncommon in
Devonshire. Those I have heard of have always been men,
and their function is not to bewitch people, but to relieve
them from the effects of " ill-wishes " of others ; to remove,
not to cast charms.) This white witch made a waxen image
of the human shape, stuck pins into it, and then put it near
a fire. The wax represented the person who had ill-wished
or overlooked my patient, and as the wax melted, the evil
influence was destroyed, the result being that the patient got

OK DEVONSHIRE FOLK-LORE. 67

very rapidly well. As on two occasions this girl had been
ill for several weeks, it was obvious that her rapid recovery
was due to the good offices of the white witch.

Not only people, but animals were ill-wished. On one
occasion a local pig had been taken in to fatten ; but after
five or six weeks' feeding, the pig was thinner, not fatter.
Cherchez la femme ! What woman had overlooked the pig ?
In a neighbouring cottage lived a patient of mine. She was
a stranger to the district, peculiar in appearance, and was on
bad terms with the owner of the pig; therefore it was obvious
that she was the culprit, and accordingly she was for some
time subjected to various forms of annoyance, and, I think,
to assault. Now, among the causes of this woman's peculiar
appearance was a condition of extreme nystagmus. On the
first occasion that I attended her, I endeavoured to get a
history of the condition of her eyes, and I got it. "Her
mother were overlooked in church afore her were born."
The ill-wisher of the pig had herself been overlooked, even
before she began a separate existence.

Cases of ill-wishing were many. Even guardians of the
poor, and members of school boards, were, at any rate in
their own opinion, affected in this way.

A labourer and handy-man employed on a large estate had
lost his first wife by drowning. She had suffered from
melancholia, and was found dead in a shallow pit of water.
Two years after he married again. Two or three months
after marriage this second wife became melancholic, and
after a month had to be removed to an asylum. He himself
was dyspeptic, and was always in low spirits. Was it not
obvious that there must be some evil influence at work ? At
a lodge on the estate lived an old woman, herself full of
ancient history and superstition, garrulous, inquisitive, and
possibly not very fond of this man ; but in no sense
malicious, or even ill-natured. Still, she was in appearance
just the woman who might do such deeds, and she was at
once selected as the ill-wisher of the man and his two wives,
and at times the man was so convinced of her having
bewitched him, that he used threats about her, and possibly,
had it not been for the influence of his master and others,
and the danger of losing a good place, harm might have
befallen the innocent old lodge-keeper. In this case the
superstition prevented the removal of the melancholic patient
to an asylum for two or three weeks after I had advised
removal, and very nearly led to a breach of the peace.

One day I was sent for to see, at once, a man who had

68 THIRTEENTH REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

been taken into a Cottage Hospital. He had been engaged
in hauling a heavy block of marble with a crane, when
owing to some part of the apparatus giving way, the handle
revolved with great force and struck him on the inner side
of the leg, just above the knee. On examining him, I found
that the handle had passed through the back of the leg
between the blood-vessels and the femur, carrying with it a
piece of the trousers and their lining, and pushing before it,
but not piercing, the skin on the outer side of the leg. The
bone was uninjured, as also were the vessels. It seemed
impossible for such an accident to happen without injury to
the vessels, and I naturally inquired at once about hemorr-
hage. They said that it began to bleed u terrible," but he
" said a prayer to it," and that stopped it He would not
tell me the prayer — a man must not tell a man — but he
told the matron of the hospital, and she told me. It is
from Ezekiel xvi. 6 and 9. An old Devonian, who is a
thorough believer in " all charms and prayers," has recently
given the full directions how to work this charm. The
words are:

"And when I passed by thee" (here give the name of the
person in full) " and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said
unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto
thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.' Then washed I thee
with water ; yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee,
and I anointed thee with oil. In the name of the Father and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen ! Amen ! Amen ! "

He goes on, "A little while ago my wife's nose burst a-
bleeding in the night, a stream. She called me to say the
prayer, so I caught hold of my own nose and brought in her
name. It very soon stopped. When the person is bleeding
put your thumb at the same place and say the name." Is
not this evidence conclusive? All hemorrhages will stop
after the prayer is used ! I have heard of wonderful opera-
tions where the hemorrhage was arrested by an old woman
using the charm.

Saying a prayer to a disease or a diseased part is a very
common mode of cure; it is often, if not always, accompanied
by " striking " or touching the affected part, with or without
oils or other medicaments. For instance, every skin disease
among my poorer patients was at first considered to be " the
erysipelas," pronounced " arisapilus," and, as a rule, prayer
and striking had been resorted to before a doctor was con-
sulted. The prayer for this disease is :

ON DEVONSHIRE FOLK-LORE. 69

" Now come ye to the Lord of the land, Barney Fine. Barney
Gout shall die away under a blackthorn, with red cow's milk and
black wooL In the name," &c, &c.

And my directions are, " Get a little milk, from a red cow if
you can, and while striking say the prayer three times, and
strike it around with the sun."

(N.B. — A man must give this prayer to a woman, and a
woman to a man.)

The kind of logic of those who believe in charms is
beautifully shown by a patient who came to me with varicose
eczema of both legs. He received what I thought was
appropriate treatment, and used it for a few days ; he then

told me that A B had told him it was not eczema,

but " the erysipelas ; and if it *s the erysipelas no doctors can
cure it, so I '11 say a prayer to it, and it will get well." He
promised to come to me again if it did not get well, and in a
fortnight or so up he came again. He had said a prayer to
it every morning — the "Barney prayer" — and it was no
better ; therefore it was not the erysipelas, and he would let
me try to cure it !

A scald or burn is also prayed for.

"Two angels came from the West, one brought fire, the other
brought frost. Out Fire, in Frost, by the Father, &c, &c. Amen!
Amen! Amen!"

(Put your thumb on the scald, and say the prayer three
times.)

A child scalded his throat severely by drinking out of a
kettle. The prayer was said more than three times without
effect, as the child died.

I was regarded as a butcher because I wanted to perform
tracheotomy. A "mother of twelve" declared she "would
rather see them all die than let a doctor cut the throat of
any one of them."

After erysipelas, the disease most prayed or struck for was
"king's evil." Judging from the way the term is used on
and about Dartmoor, " king's evil " must have been the term
applied to a number of different affections of a chronic
character. Touching for " king's evil " was of course at one
time very common, and there is the historic case of the
touching of Dr. Johnson when a child. About Dartmoor
the most effective striker is the seventh son of a seventh son,
necessarily a somewhat rare person. I know two ; one was
affected with chronic jaundice ; he could not cure himself,
but he could cure others of all sorts of complaints.

70 THIRTEENTH REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

About 1889, a girl was brought to me with a very small
patch of lupus on the left side of the nose. I wished to
treat it radically, but was not allowed. Two years later I
saw her again. The disease then involved the left side of
the nose, the septum and whole of the margin of the right
ala. They then consented to treatment by scraping, with
very good result. Between the two visits to me she had
been charmed in all sorts of ways. At ten p.m. on a
particular night in the week, for weeks together, she had
been struck by my jaundiced friend, Septimus Septum ; she
had worn a blessed sixpence round her neck, and also in a
silken bag a dried toad's leg. Prayers innumerable had been
said, but the " king's evil " had not been arrested.

Cures for whooping-cough, epilepsy, etc., are plentiful
enough. Consumption can be cured by striking with a piece
of a hempen rope with which a man has been hanged, so
that ropes used by suicides have a marketable value, and are
sold in inch lengths. The case in which I came across this
was where a man had hanged himself with a rope in his
barn. The father of the man had hanged himself with a
rope made of twisted brambles. I forget whether the latter
rope had any value.

A cure for hernia is to split a tree — an ash-tree is, I
believe, the best — and pass the ruptured child through the
ruptured tree. The tree is then bound round, and if the two
parts grow together the rupture will be healed. I have seen
a child so treated, and a tree that has been used for another
child. The prevalence of these charms and superstitions
shows the general attitude of the mind of the people, and
no man whose experience is limited to the wards of hospitals,
or practice in large towns, can have any idea of the difficulties
experienced by medical men in remote country districts,
especially the western counties of England. It. A.

WITCHCRAFT.

The following appeared in the Western Morning News of
July 17th, 1894 :

"There is at least one Bideford man who believes in witches
and witchery. He was charged yesterday with using bad language,
and it transpired that the cause of his forgetting himself was the
appearance of one of two women who, he is under the impression,
are bewitching him. The man appeared with a shade over his
eyes, and his fixed belief is that the women are evilly controlling
his eyesight. When he had been fined and admonished for using
the language complained of, he remarked that the constable would

ON DEVONSHIRE FOLK-LORE. 71

have done better to have removed the woman — presumably to
negative her witching powers. That a person of respectable
position and fine physique should become possessed of such a
hallucination in these days seems incredible, but there is too much
reason to suppose that belief in the 'evil eye1 is far from being
exterminated in Devon. In the present case there may be other
causes operating on the man which prepare the ground for the
strange belief which has possessed him, and it will be awkward,
both for himself and the supposed ' wise women/ if his hallucina-
tion becomes stronger as time goes on.11 H. B. S. W.

FORTUNE TELLING.

The following appeared in the Western Morning Netas of
30th December, 1890 :

M Yesterday, at the Ivybridge Police-court, Beatrice Small, who
described herself as a ' poor single woman, with six little children,1
was charged with obtaining money and goods from John Masters,
at Aveton GifFord, under false pretences. Prosecutor stated that
on the 13th inst. he was at work in a field when prisoner came by
and asked if there was a house near, and he replied that his home
was near. She accompanied him home, and told him he was a
lucky man, as he had a fortune coming to him, and if he would
give her ten shillings she would get it. He said he had no money
but money's worth, referring to some poultry, and she then asked
for two fowls, which he gave her. He afterwards gave her three
shillings, but she told him that he must get two shillings more,
and she would call for it next day (Sunday). She did call, and
he gave her two shillings. On the following day she came again,
and said the expense of obtaining the fortune (which was £250)
would be £5 more, and she would pay part and be repaid by him,
and that she and a lawyer would get his fortune by the following
Friday. Believing her tale, his wife borrowed £1 from her father,
and gave it to the prisoner. Next day she again came to his house
and said she wanted another five shillings and a bag of potatoes.
He had only half a-crown, which he gave her, and also a bag of
potatoes. She inquired his name, age, birthplace, and place of
baptism, as well as his wife's age and birthplace, and then gave
him a small cloth bag of salt to wear inside the seat of his trousers,
and he was to keep it all a great secret, ' because it was a very
particular and difficult business.' Prosecutor produced the bag,
which was about two inches in length, and which he said he had
worn in his trousers for a day (loud laughter) ; and then, hearing
that the prisoner, and her people, and their tent, had all disappeared,
he went to the magistrate, who advised him to take out a warrant
The total amount he gave prisoner in cash and value in fowls was
£3 2s. 6d.

" Sarah Masters, wife of the prosecutor, gave corroborative evi-
dence, adding that prisoner told her she would ' work ' witness in

72 THIRTEENTH REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

luck as well as her husband. She also gave her a little hag as a
charm to wear inside the band of her petticoat (laughter).

" Prisoner denied first approaching the prosecutor, and said Mrs.
Masters came to her and asked her to come to the house and
advise her what to do, 'as her husband was in love with two
young women, and she wanted to know who they were.'

" The Bench committed prisoner for trial at the Exeter Quarter
Sessions; and afterwards heard a similar charge, involving a promise
of £240 and a house, which prisoner told a Mrs. Mortimore (also
of Aveton Gifford) she could get for her. Prosecutrix was induced
by these representations to part with a half-sovereign and three
fowls. Prisoner was also committed for trial on this charge."

H. B. S. W.

MAY-DAY CUSTOMS.

Among the May-day customs still lingering in Devonshire
is that of throwing water over persons, especially strangers,
from which the day is termed ducking-day, Mr. Elworthy
(The Evil Eye, p. 62) suggests the custom to be a survival
of the invocation of the rain spirit of ancient times. As
this custom is now likely to cease, owing to the lamentable
accident at Loddiswell, its observance on the occasion is
worthy of record.

The following is an account of the trial at the Exeter
Assizes, June, 1894 :

THE DEATH OP DR. TWINING.

"William John Luscombe, 13, and Samuel George Hine, 16,
were indicted for the manslaughter of Dr. Alfred Hughes Twining,
at Loddiswell. Hine pleaded guilty, and Luscombe not guilty.
Counsel for the prosecution stated that this was a miserable sort
of case. These two boys, who, for anything he knew, were very
respectable, were charged with manslaughter. In that part of
Devonshire in which the prisoners lived there was an idiotic
custom practised on the 1st of May, called * ducking - day,' of
throwing water over people. The prisoners, with others, amused
themselves on the evening of that date in throwing water over a
fence on to a road some distance below, where there was a passing
carriage, containing the late Dr. Twining and Dr. Hellier, who
were being driven by a servant. The water thrown over the fence
frightened the horse, which collided with a fence. More water
was thrown, with the result that the horse started off, the carriage
was turned over, and its occupants were thrown out. Dr. Twining
sustained an injury to his ankle, which, a few days later, necessitated
the amputation of the leg at the thigh. As the outcome of that
amputation, the doctor died. The learned Judge again expressed
the opinion that there was no case against Luscombe, whom the
jury found * Not guilty.' His Lordship : What is to be done with

ON DEVONSHIRE FOLK-LORE.

the elder boy 9 I have no power to order him a whipping. It
would be utterly wrong to send the boy Hine to prison. He
would be discharged on his own recognizance of £5, and his
father's surety of £5, to come up for judgment when called upon."

H. B. S. W.

SOBRIQUETS.

Sobriquets given by the inhabitants of certain parishes to
their neighbours. The people of

Ashreigney (Kingsash)

Ashwater

Barnstaple

Beaford

Bishop's Nympton

Bradworthy

Buckland

Chagford

Gheriton

Gopplestone

Cadbury

Crediton

Cadeleigh

Clannaborough

Chawleigh

Clawton

Dawlish

Dolton

Dowland

Faringdon

Hockworthy

Holcombe, near Teignmouth

Hollcombe Bogus

High Bickington

Kennersleigh

King's Nympton .

Mariansleigh

Morchard

North Molton

vol. xxvn. F

Dog-eaters.

Taties (potatoes).

Bulldogs.

Blackberries.

Brags, or Bone-pickers.

Horniwigs (plovers).

Bulldogs.
. Chugy-pigs.
. Owls.

Fagotters.
. Cocks.

. Kerton Bloody-backs ; on
account of the bull-
fights which were
formerly held there ;
for when the dogs were
tossed, their owners
used to receive them
on their backs.
. Hens.

Candlesticks.
. Boars.

Mea
. Hags.
. Ducks.
. Geese.

Badgers.

Hogs.
. Bags.
. Bogues.
. Pretty Maids.
. Candlesticks.
. Stags.
. Bread-eaters.
. Bread-eaters (Burd-eaters).
. MonkeySjBragSjOrMagpies.

74 REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON DEVONSHIRE FOLK-LORE.

Pinhoe

. Pigs.

Poughill

Cuckoos.

Roseash

Whitpot-eaters.

Shaldon

. Grecians.

Sourton

. Boars.

South Tawton

Bats.

South Molton

. Molton Images, and Jolly

Boys.

South Zeal

Pretty Maidens.

Sticklepath

Boars.

Sandford

. Pigs' Ears (a cake made

•

there) ; also Cheese-

•

eaters, and Barley-

bread - eaters.

Stockleigh

Mice.

St. Mary Clist

Pretty Maids.

Topsham

. Dabs.

Totiies

Horseheads.

Sometimes they make a rhyme, as at Cheriton Fitzpaioe
they say— « Cadbury cocks,

Cadeleigh hens,
Poughill cuckoos, and
Cheriton men."

Also at South Molton —

" North Molton monkeys,
Bishop's Nympton brags ;
South Molton jolly boys
Beat them all to rags." H. S.

For information on this subject vide Provincial Sobriquets,
Western Antiquary, ix. 37-64. P. F. S. A.

THIRTEENTH REPORT (SECOND SERIES) OF
THE COMMITTEE ON THE CLIMATE OF DEVON.

Thirteenth Report of the Committee — consisting of Mr. P. F.
S. Amery, j.p. (Secretary), Mr. A. Chandler, p. r. met. soc., and
Mr. James Hamlyn, j.p.,— to collect and tabulate trustworthy
and comparable observations on the climate of Devon.

Edited by P. F. S. Amery, Honorary Secretary.
(Read at Okehampton, July, 1895.)

Your Committee present a tabulated summary of meteor-
ological observations taken during 1894, relating to the
Rainfall, Temperature, Humidity, and Cloud, as recorded in
various localities representing the different districts and
elevations of the county of Devon.

Returns are once more furnished from Princetown, which,
owing to its position and great elevation, are important
factors in a report on Devonshire climate.

The Secretary has taken every means in his power to
have the tables verified by the observers themselves, and
the thanks of the Committee are due to them for the
assistance they have given in compiling the report.

The particulars of the stations and observers are as follows :

STATION ELEVATION (feet.) OB8EBVEB.

Hfracombe . ... 25 .

Teignmouth 70 .

Torquay (Cary Green) ... 12 .

„ (Chapel Hill) ... 286 .
Sidmouth (Sidmount) ... 148 .

Callompton 202 .

Brampford Speke 113 .

Southmolton (Castle Hill

School) 363 ,

Plymouth Observatory ... 117 .
Princetown (H. M. Piison) 1359 .
Buekfa3tleigh(Bos8ellPark) 250 .

Mburton (Druid) 584 .

Hobe (Vicarage) 650 .

M. W. Tattam.

W. C. Lake, m.d.

A. Chandler, f.r.Met.8oc.

W. T. Radford, m.d., f.r.Met.Soc.
T. Turner, J.P., f.rmet.soc.
Miss M. B. Gamlen.

W. H. Reeve.

H. Victor Prigg, a.m.i.c.e.

J. L. Durbin.

James Hamlyn, j.p.

P. F. S. Amery, j.p.

Rev. J. Gill, m.a.

James Hamlyn, Chairman.
P. F. S. Amery, Secretary.

76 OBSERVATIONS ON THE CLIMATE OF DEVON.

JANUARY.

Hfmcombe .
'feign mo nth
Torquay (C. Q.)
Torquay (C. B.)

SouthmoltoD
Plymouth .

Pnncetcwn .
Buckfutleigh
Ashburton .

45-°

41. 1

48. 1

44.6

28.9

5^-9

43-9

39-2

49a

44-*

S4-S

445

40.3

49.1

44-7

27.8

53-9

48-S
49.6

43-9

25.8

53-8

43- S

44.1

14.0

56.7

■;::,:■:'; 4*- 3

3^4

49.2

42.8

SS'S

35-5

49.4

42.5

20.9

si 1

40.9

3S-6

47-5

4'-5

52.2

39.1

45.2

43-9

26.6

57.6

38.6

34- S

43-4

3S.9

24.9

48.6

4i-8

37- S

49-7

43 3

22- S

53 s

I 4*3

3M.4

49-8

44-'

28.2

57-6

IHraeombe .
Teignnioutb
Torquay {C. G.)
Torquay (C. H.)
Sidiuouth .
(In 11. hi 1 pt on .
BramptordSpeke
Southmolton
Plymouth ,
Princetown .
BuckfaaUeigh
Ash burton .

41.8

51.8

46. 8

349

63.3

38.8

S3-*

46.0

31.8

59-9

40-S

51. 4

46.o

34-o

56.5

39.5

5°-7

330

57-8

39-4

45.8

35-0

58.9

35-4

53-9

44-7

26.5

64.7

7»

33 7

53-4

43-5

26.5

60.8

34-4

52-3

43-4

27.2

64.'

3^-3

52.4

45-9

31.6

62.7

35-8

46.8

4".3

31.4

55-8

35-3

52-3

43-8
46.2

28. 9

61.0

39-4

53 0

34-5

59-8

OBSERVATIONS OH TBS CLIMATE OF DEVON. 77

Utacombe .

TeigQinoiith
Totqo»y (C. Q.)
Torquay fa H.)

Sdmontli .

CnUompton .

Bniiiplord Speke

BonthmoltDD

Tlifflouth .

Pnncetoim .

Buckfutleigh

Holusi

50.9

46.8

54-4

50.6 40.7 62.8

S*i

44-7

5M.5

51.6 37.8 68.2

52.0

45.1

56-7

50-9 35-5 66-6

43-2

56.7

50,0 33.6 66.0

SI.0

43-2

56.4

49-8 343 65°

m im

41.9

57.6

49-7 32-3 *6»

5"-9

4"-7

58.8

48.7

S5-3

48.2 31. 8 66.1

Kl -

439

SS-7

49-8 35-8 69.2

45-7

48. 2

39-5

50.7

45.1 31.6 62.0

4*-5

58.0

50.2 31.0:66.9

5'-9

431

57-9

SO-6 35-5 67-7

'.5i

Ttignmonth
TMqu»J (C. O.)

Jwmwio. n.)

Cnjiompton .
BumpfordSpeke

mutliiuolton

Plpuonth .
rnncetown .
MbnrtoD .
Bwkfutleigb

58..

53-2

62.3

57. 7

So. 3

59.8

5*- 5

65-7

59.1

7S-o

58.4

5^-3

63.4

57-9

45.0

72.9

50.7

63.6

57-2

44.8

70.7

58.2

50.2

63.4

56.K

41.6

78.6

59-3

49.8

66.5

58.2

38.3

80.0

60.1

4K.6

68.1

58.9

39-4

7Q.0

56.0

55-8

37.0

784

51.2

61.6

56.4

42-9

75-8

5=-5

47 ■

57.2

52.I

699

5«-3

64.7

576

44.7

743

56.7

49-9

65-7

57.8

4.':°

76-5

78 OBSERVATIONS OK THE CLIMATE OF DEVON.

JULY.

AUGUST.

Ilfatcombe .

4- '3 S

So.z

56.0

62.3

59-4

51.3 ;J SS 6-5

Teign mouth

a.71

6[.2

54-9

67.5

61.2

489 7-3

Torquay (C. G.} .

3-3'

60. a

54-7

65.6

602

50-0 7-0

Torquay (C. 11. ) .

3<>9

53-3

65-3

59-3

48.9 ...

Sidmouth .

356

53-6

65.7

59.6

49.6 5 7.5
44-3 ?j 7-«
45-o SS 7-S
39-9 7-6

Ciillompton .

B ramp ford Speke .

3-24

60.0

5*3

66.4

59-4

3-40

60.4

523

67.2

59-7

South moltoD

3.61

57-7

50.7

64.2

57-4

Plymouth .

3.02

53-3

49.3

64.2

58.8

46.} 70.4 Hz 7.8

Princetown .

6.48

544

59-6

54 7

41.6 71.9 S3 7.3

Buckfastleigh

4-44

57-7

52-4

67.9

58.6

420 74.5 7S 7.5

Ash button ■

4-67

59.2

53-3

65.6

59-5

49.1 72.3 go ...

Hotoe . .

5-3*

SEPTEMBER.

Ilftacombe .

2.63

58.0 5*->

60.0

56.0

45-4

64. S

S-2

Teignmouth

3-33

36.7 S0.4

63.8

57-1

42.5

71.0

Torquay (C. G.) .

3.°S

56.9 50.9

61.6

S6.3
55-2

42.5

66.5

5.0

Torquay (G H.) .

3.6s

... 48. 8

61.4

40-3

69.2

Sidmouth ■

2.98

S6.a 490

62.2

55.6

41.6

70.1

3-8

Ciillompton .
BnuiipfordSpeke.

a. 33

55-7 4^-3

62.6

54-4

36.5

730

8a 6.3
86,6.6

a.35 »

S4-9 4*- S

62.2

54-3

35-'

70.2

ttouthmolton

i.oii ■-£

S3- 7 44-3

61.6

53-o

33.0

72.4

86 58

Plymouth .

a. 38

... 49.1

622

55-7
51.8

40.0

&9.8

79 . 5-2

Pnncelown .

3-7"

5*-4 4^-7

50.8

38.2

68.7

»S 1 S-5

8zU-8

Buckfastleigh

4.26

546 460

62.9

54-5

34.0

73-5

Ashburton .

3-9°

56.8 49.9

62.8

56-3

41.7

70-9

8o|s-6

Holne

SOS

JB -.

...

0B3EBVATI0NS OK THE CLIMATB 0? DEVON.

Teignmouth
Torqnij (C. G.) .
T«B)Mj(C. H.) .
Sidmooth .
dHampton .
Bmnplori Spake .
Sootbrnolton
FJjmouth .
rnwetown .
Bocktutleigh
Aihborton .
Eobe . .

So. 8

46.8

S3.»

50.0

38.9

60.8

7-0

48-A

43-9

52.7

48.3

37-3

59.2

6.9

49.6

45-6

S3. 4

495

39°

60.5

6.2

43-7

Sa-S

48..

37o

58.2

4*3

43.6

52.1

48-0

34-9

58.2

7-3

465

41.1

52-3

46.7

3'-9

59-7

7-"

46.7

5*-3

46.1

3'- 3

62.2

7.0

45-5

40.4

S"3

45-9

29.8

59-7

7-3

45-°

53-1

49.0

36-5

58. 1

7-5

45-7

4"-3

53-4

46,9

320

S8.'s

7.6

47.4

43-i

52.6

47-9

35- S

58.7

7.0

DECEMBER.

Toiquij (C. Q.)
Wjia H.)

foUotnpton

PJimootb
rrincetovrn .
takiwUeigh
Mboibxi

Holne

XX 47-7

44.2

49- S

46. 8

33-9

55-6

45'

41.3

48.9

45-1

29.2

55-o

45-3

41.7

49.2

45-5

29.3
27.8

54.1

40.3

48.2

44-3

s+s

39-6

48.5

44.0

54. 8

42.8

3»-a

48.2

43-2

28.4

54 3

42.9

36.8

47.8

42-3

24.9

54-'

8'/

42.6

38.3

473

42.8

25.2

53-9

41.6

50-5

46.0

26.5

6.. 7

4a'.'6

39-6

48.V

44-3

29.0

54-9

43 6

40.4

48.7

44-S

28. 1

54- 5

OBSERVATIONS OH THE CLIMATE OF DRVOS.
SUMMARY FOR YEAR 18M.

SECOND EEPOET OF THE DARTMOOR
EXPLORATION COMMITTEE.

(Read at Okehampton, July, 1895.)

The Dartmoor Exploration Committee, in presenting its
Second Report to the Devon Association, is glad to be able
to report considerable progress made in the examination of
the pre-historic relics on Dartmoor.

Last year the Eeport dealt exclusively with Grimspound ;
every one of the formerly-inhabited huts within its area
having been carefully excavated and planned. What
remained to be done was to examine the structure of the
enclosing wall, which presented characters very perplexing,
and which the Committee considered deserved further
examination.

Last year a small portion of the wall had been under
investigation, and this portion had revealed the puzzling
feature of being double, with an entrance into the space
between the walls from the inside of the Pound.

This year the wall has been examined in ten additional
places.

In addition to this, fresh fields have been explored, notably
the very interesting and hitherto hardly -noticed collection
of hut circles on the slope of Langstone Moor, in Petertavy
parish, opposite Greena Ball and Mis Tor.

Moreover, a careful plan has been taken of the remains
near Merrivale Bridge, by Mr. E. Hansford Worth, c.b., a
member of the committee, and these have been subjected
to investigation.

Crapp's King, a dilapidated pound containing ruined hut
circles, near Post Bridge, has also been explored.

The enclosure of King's Oven has likewise been subjected
to investigation.

A very interesting collection of enclosures and huts at
Cullacoombe Head,, on Shapley Common, have been ex-

vol. XXVH. G

82 SECOND REPORT OF THE

haustively explored, and a couple of hut circles on Whiten
Ridge have been dealt with as well.

Finally, the very interesting Blowing House at Deep
Swincoombe has been cleared out and planned.

Such has been the work of the Committee on Dartmoor
since the last meeting of the Devon Association, at the
expenditure of considerable time and money.

The Committee desire on this occasion to omit from their
Report what concerns the Blowing House at Deep Swin-
coombe, and reserve the notice of that to another Report, as it
is their wish, having done so much to the hut circles, to next
turn their attention to the early tin-workings and smeltings
on Dartmoor, and they would prefer to bring into one Report
what they have to say thereupon.

The examinations that this Report will deal with are
these : (1) Of the Wall of Grimspound ; (2) the Langstone
settlement ; (3) that at Merrivale Bridge ; (4) that at Crapp's
Ring; (5) King's Oven; (6) the settlement at Cullacoombe
Head ; and (7) the two huts on Whiten Ridge.

L THE WALL OF GRIMSPOUND.

The Committee are obliged to admit that the structure
of this wall is difficult of interpretation. At base the heap
of ruins that forms the wall measures, where two faces
remain undisturbed, about 12 feet. On examination of the
wall, in eleven different places, it became apparent that this
wall consisted originally of two, with a space between them
of 3 feet 6 inches in width, or thereabouts, sometimes a little
less, sometimes more. In places there seemed to be an inner
face, on both sides, to this space.

Admission into this space, or passage, was probably
obtained by small openings from the inside of the Pound.
One of these was found last year ; another, very distinct,
was observed and cleared out this year. In each instance
the doorway seemed to be in connection with the walls of
the lunettes which abutted on the main wall below them.
These doors are narrow, measuring 2 feet 6 inches, and 2 feet
10 inches — probably more at the top, when complete, but
the tops are ruinous.

That there was no core of earth between the walls, which
might have served as faces to it, is almost certain, as no
traces of such a core remain, and it never can have existed,
for the stones of the two walls have in general fallen inward.
They are tilted one on another in such a manner as proves
that they fell into, and encumbered, an open space.

DARTMOOR EXPLORATION COMMITTEE. 83

There are not stones sufficient to have made the enclosing
wall of Grimspound very high. It is the opinion of some
of the Committee, after much consideration, that Grimspound
can never have been erected for military defence, and that
it was simply an enclosure for cattle, against wolves.

From a strategic point of view, it is held by them that an
error was committed in not including within the area the
granite outcrop and ridge that separates the drainage of
Hookner Tor from that of Hameldon Tor. This ridge would
allow assailants to command the interior with their spears
and arrows. Those who erected the enclosure of Grimspound
took no account of this ridge, probably purposely left it
outside their Pound, because a mass of rock, producing little
or no herbage for the cattle.

The walls were apparently not high enough to serve as
a defence against an enemy, and the hollow between the
walls would, it is supposed, make the defence of them
difficult.

II. LANGSTONE MOOR.

This Moor, called on the Ordnance map Launceston Moor,
occupies a ridge between White Tor and Whiten Burrow,
and is also connected with Great Staple Tor by a long neck
of moor. It divides the Walkham Valley from that of the
Tavy, and in it the Petertavy brook takes its rise in a bog
that is not easily traversed. The Moor derives its name
from a Long-stone, the end of a stone row, running in a
direction N. and S. from a surface-water pool that occupies
the site of a destroyed cairn. The stone is composed of the
local gabbro, and was prostrate, but His Grace the Duke of
Bedford has re-erected it in its original socket-hole. The
old Lych Way ran from Whiten Burrow to it, and thence
diverged into two branches, one leading to Petertavy, the
other to the road between Tavistock and Hill Bridge, which
it reached at Cudlip Town.

The stone row consists of very small stones, eighteen in
number, and has been much pillaged, but by spade investi-
gation it was established that it never had been furnished
with stones of much magnitude, as the pits to receive the
upright blocks were small. Nearly parallel with the row,
but not quite so, at the distance of sixty or seventy yards,
are the remains of a second stone row, leading from a cairn,
formerly surrounded by a circle of stones. A very ancient
M new take " wall has been built over and about this line ; it
includes the cairn in it, and takes advantage of some of the
original standing stones.

84 SECOND REPORT OF THE

West of this second stone row are several cairns more or
less dilapidated, and the remains of a kistvaen.

On the brow of Langstone Moor, overlooking the Walkham
River, is a fine circle of stones. This was first noticed by
Mr. Brent, of Plymouth; it was again seen by Rev. G. B.
Berry, of Emmanuel, Plymouth, and it was last year carefully
examined by the Exploration Committee, and His Grace the
Duke of Bedford was communicated with, who, with great
courtesy and promptitude, undertook to place a party of
workmen at the disposal of the Committee for the re-erection
of the stones, which had all fallen, owing to the spongy nature
of the peat in which they had been originally planted. The
fall, however, of some of the stones must have taken place
comparatively recently, as their pits were open under them,
and full of water only.

The position of the circle was one rendering it liable to
being robbed for the sake of gate-posts, and indeed it seems
probable that, as will be seen presently, it has already
suffered on that account. When the stones are re-erected,
then strict orders are issued from the Duchy Office that they
are not to be interfered with ; whereas stones lying on the
face of the moor cannot be thus protected, and indeed are
carried Away without scruple by men who are confident they
can do this without detection.

The circle measures 57 feet in diameter, and consists of
sixteen stones. Outside this circle appears to have been
another concentric with it ; of this, however, only two stones
remain in situ, but the pit hole of another, and the broken
top of the stone taken from it remain. The singular feature
of this outer circle is that the three stones are of a fine-
grained elvan, entirely different from the nature of the
stones in the inner circle, with the exception of one, which
also is of elvan.

In the socket-hole of one of the stones a burnt stone was
found, perhaps a " cooking-stone," but so burnt as to crumble
between the fingers with a little pressure.

The investigation of the huts was now proceeded with. Of
these there are a great number. The exploration was not
carried out as happily as at Grimspound, as the workmen
employed were changing every day, so that the same men
could not be secured sufficiently long to be trained to dig
intelligently. For this reason it was deemed inadvisable to
do no more in the season rapidly drawing to an end, than
uncover the floors of the huts and leave the sifting of the
floors till Mr. George French could be secured in the spring.

JMirry-TraZf J

■je.^:

DARTMOOR EXPLORATION COMMITTEE. 85

these huts presented very similar features to those at
Brimspound, a raised dais, a hearth, and cooking-hole being
fcrond in several of them. .

- Eleven huts were excavated. The interiors were much
brined. In one the platform, or dais, was well defined, and

Ktere were more or less distinct indications of such plat-
rms in four others. The hearths were not always in the
middle of the huts ; in many they were at the sides. One
hearthstone was of very fine, smooth elvan, much burnt.
Several cooking-stones were found, in most cases so burnt
Is to crumble away. A flint core and five flakes were found,
tlso a scraper-knife, and a polished red pebble brought
from a distance. Also in one of the huts a rubber-stone.

in. MKRRIVALE BRIDGE.

Several days were devoted to the examination of the
temains so well known, near Merrivale Bridge. Sir Massey
Lopes very kindly and readily gave his consent to the
investigation of these remains, and the Committee considered
that considerable importance attached to them, owing to
the fact that here the hut circles, and the stone rows, and
Other megalithic monuments were in close proximity, and
kpparently mutually connected, and contemporary.

THE FALLEN CROMLECH."
From a Sketch by th« Rev. S. Bariso-Gould, 1851.

The first object to be examined was the so-called fallen
Cromlech. This had been noticed by the Rev. E. A. Bray,
in 1804. It was described by Mr. S. Bowe, in 1830. A
hawing was made of it by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould, in
1851. It was also noticed by Sir Gardiner Wilkinson, and

iere. Some years ago a man who lived at Merrivale
tiidge, and dealt in stone posts to the farmers, cut two out
the quoit and further mutilated one of the supporters,
fcrhich he split in half, and then further split off a portion
Inch as he wanted from one of these halves. So it was left
b a sad condition.

86 SECOND REPORT OF THE

The Committee raised the two pieces of the quoit* and
then the construction of the monument was plain enough.
It proved not to be a cromlech, but a kistvaen, running N. and
S., and measuring, internally, 7 feet by 2 feet 9 inches at the
head, contracting to 2 feet at the foot. It consisted of a
head and a footstone, one large block on the W. side
measuring 7 feet long by 3 feet 6 inches high, which had
been split by the mason. The east side consisted of two
stones, one 4 feet 10 inches long and the same height as
the opposite side stone, the other a smaller stone that fitted
into the gap, and was apparently removable at will, for it
was not bedded in a groove cut in the calm, but rested on
a step of calm about a foot high.

In the kistvaen, near the head, were found a flint scraper,
a flint flake, and a polishing-stone.

The Committee further examined some depressions in the
surface of the turf near the so-called "Sacred Circle" and found
several pits dug to the depth of a foot or eighteen inches in
the calm, with triggers lining them, and in one a flint flake.
These had apparently been the sockets of menhirs, or standing
stones, which had been removed either to serve as gate-posts
or for the construction of a new-take wall hard by.

Near the great menhir are indications of the starting of
stone rows ; the ground in advance of these was examined,
but no pits for the reception of more stones were found.
Some of the huts were then searched ; in two the hearths
were found, in all charcoal, one or two had apparently been
paved ; but all were found to be in a ruinous condition and
had been worked over, apparently by the road makers, in
search of suitable stone at the making, or afterwards the
repairing, of the high-road that runs close by. One flint
flake only was found in one of the huts. In all, six hut
circles were examined, of these two gave no signs of human
occupancy.

At the E. end of the double northern stone row, it was
surmised that there had formerly existed a circle. The
stones there lying were examined, no pits were found. Some
of the stones proved to be outcrops of rock, and others to
be shapeless lumps that had never been planted erect.

The Committee is glad to be able to reproduce here two
plates, from plan and bird's-eye view, of the remains at
Merrivale Bridge, as taken in 1828 by Colonel Hamilton
Smith, f.r.s. As usual with plans and drawings taken before
the last thirty years, they are inaccurate. The tombstone
on the plan becomes a cromlech on the bird's-eye sketch.

DARTMOOR EXPLORATION COMMITTEE. 87

This is really a small cairn that contained a rained kistvaen,
from which a small row starts, unnoticed by Colonel
Smith. The barrow between the atone rows and the circle
and menhir has since been rained; in 1851 it disclosed
remains of a kistvaen or inner circle, and an outer ring of

The circle interrupting the double range of stones to
the S. contains a cairn. There is no circle at the E. end
of the northern double row, but there seemed to have been
one before the place was investigated. It would be interesting
to know if this row ended to the west with a tall monolith,
as represented in both plan and bird's-eye sketch. If so,
this has disappeared. The southern row ends to the E. in
two, and not one, upright stones and the remains of a cairn.
In the plan, within the so-called " Religious Inclosure,"
which is in reality a cattle-pen, Colonel Smith indicates a
"fallen cromlech"; this is actually a stone that has been
cot by moormen to form a crasher, either for apples or for
gorse, and never removed ; it was probably cut at the
beginning of this century, or the end of last. The barrow
marked on the plan on the N. side of the road to Princetown
has been removed by road-menders. On the plan is a circle
at the E. end of the southern range of stones. No such circle
ever existed.

iv. crapp's RING.

Some of the circles lying within Crapp's King, which is a
mined "pound" on the slope of Lake Head Hill, were
examined, but it was found that all except one had been
dug over for stones. The comparatively undisturbed circle
was 15 feet in diameter, with remains of dais, and a hearth,
in a good state of preservation. The " cooking-hole " was in
the hearth, and was 5 inches deep and 10 inches square,
and this was full of what appeared to be peat ashes. No
wood-charcoal was observed. Owing to the disturbed
character of these circles their further examination was
abandoned.

88 SECOND REPORT OF THE

V. KING'S OVEN.

The original King's Oven, that is to say the smelting-
place of the tin which was the Royal due, was destroyed
probably some time during last century, and was further
dilapidated on the construction of* the buildings of Bush
Down Mine, which are hard by ; but the site is still
indicated by a pile of stones in the midst of a pound that
is rudely circular. At the S.W. side of the pound are the
remains of an oblong rectangular structure. This was
examined, but proved to have been so worked over by the
masons engaged in building the houses of Bush Down, and
now ruinous, that nothing could be made out, to show when
it was erected.

As traces of upright stones in an arc were observable to
the N. of the enclosing pound, the pick and shovel were
brought to bear there, with the result of uncovering a portion
of a circle of upright stones that formerly enclosed a cairn,
with probably a kistvaen in the centre, some of the stones
of which remained. The investigation was not made, however,
without yielding something of interest, as, in the first place,
it determined that the construction of the pound was
subsequent to that of the circle and cairn, and secondly,
because a beautiful flint scraper was picked out from between
two of the upright stones, between which it had been
wedged. Fragments of charcoal were also found at the foot
of these stones.

VI. CULLACOOMBE HEAD.

Thus far all the collections of huts examined, those at
Grimspound, at Broadun, at Broadun Ring, at Tavy Cleave,
at Langstone, and Crapp's Ring, have been singularly unani-
mous in the tale they have been asked to disclose. They have
yielded flint flakes, cores, scrapers, polishing-stones, cooking-
stones ; nothing more, not the smallest particle of pottery.
Every indication given pointed to a very rude and primitive
condition of existence among those who occupied them.

There are, however, on Dartmoor circular huts of a
different character ; they are better constructed, and they
are usually found in connection with paddocks or enclosures
often rudely rectangular.

Such a series of huts is found on Shapley Common, at
Cullacoombe Head. It was thought advisable to explore
this settlement in order to ascertain whether it belonged
to the same age and stage of civilization as the other

•-■n

HAPLEY
COMMON

HUT C.

CAST Or ROAB

HUT A.

EAS TERN ENCL OS UK,

CALt '/»•

frKawW^

HAPLEY

:ommon

HUT

EAST OF &OAO

HUT AA .

EASTERN ENCLOSURE

*r.c

SCALE 1/36

RELATIVE POSITION

OF AA AND A
£ca1e. 30 f«et- f« I inch

(|.X«M*)»Jl W^jg.

COMMITTEE. 89

ied, and which were not
iracter.

rn on plan) that contains
enclosing wall of the
£ growing, so to speak,
oining this is another
(western on plan.)
una revealed a somewhat

remely rude description,
utly used for sharpening

id in it a wall, apparently
built across it ; as the
nches high, it appeared
a refuge by shepherds ;
iere discovered, together
ith century. The other
it character. The entire
wing to the disturbance
) modern wall, there was
inal arrangement within,
the segment formed by
imes; but this probably
-man, who used it as a
ie original hearth were

it, in which were found
sry, some flint fragments,
*>al

iughout, and the dais on
larcoal was found in the
i could not be identified.
mar scraper, similar to
-shafts. Adjoining this
s so thickly covered with
;ments of pottery, that it
i as the kitchen to tbe

hut B, was found to be
•A as a place for cooking.
ie fragments of rude red

90 SECOND REPORT OF THE

pottery, and two small flakes of flint. G and H are small
huts similar to CC.

Western Enclosure.
Hut No. 1 is a fine structure, but yielded nothing save
charcoal, and near the hearth, which was merely the clay
floor of the hut, was a part of the rim of an earthenware
vessel, and some more fragments of pottery ; also two pieces
of chalk flint, and two nodules of greeosand flint

One interesting feature may be noticed with regard to Hut
A. In it, not exactly in the centre, was found a circular
hole cut in the calm, 8 inches deep and 4 inches in diameter,
a "gob" of charcoal was at the bottom. Presumably this hole
once contained the base of a central support for the roof.
An exactly similar hole, sunk in the calm, was observed in
one of the huts on Langstone Down.

Hut C, on the east side of the road had several peculiar
features in it. The bed or dais was double, that is to say, it
occupied two segments of the circle. There was paving on
the dais. The hearth was near the centre of the hut, but
charcoal was strewn over the entire floor. A unique feature
here was a small cupboard fashioned in stone, in the depth
of the wall near the entrance. In this hut were found a
polisher and a fragment of pottery.

CUPBOARD I

DARTMOOR EXPLORATION COMMITTEE. 91

Hut D. The peculiarity of this hut consists in the
number of pointed stones set on edge in the calm. These
were probably bond stones of a double bed, as in C, but
the platforms, if they had existed, had been removed. Here
were found a pretty flint scraper and some fragments of
flint

Hut £. This hut, as also C and D, had a paved entrance ;
in the centre was a great heap of peat ash. Only one
planted stone, probably the curb of the platform, was found
remaining.

VII. THE HUTS ON WHITEN RIDGE.

The new features disclosed by the huts on Shapley
Common made it advisable to explore others of a similar
character, connected with enclosures, and the Committee
proceeded to examine those on Whiten Kidge. Up to this
point only two have been excavated.

Hut I. 16 feet in diameter by 14 feet, had a curved
paved approach to the entrance, like some at Grimspound
and one or two on Shapley Common. Charcoal in abun-
dance covered the floor, but no hearth or platform could be
made out The objects found here were several fragments
of extremely coarse, badly burnt pottery, a flint flake, and
two fragments of another, ten cooking-stones, or parts of
same, and a muller, upper stone, having a surface of 12
inches by 9 inches. Height of the stone 4£ inches.

Hut II. Diameter 13 feet; in this was found the same
sort of pottery as in No. I. and at Shapley. One cooking-
stone and two portions of others. Also a cooking-stone that
seemed to have been ground down at the end.

By the little stream which supplied these huts with water
*ere found three flint scrapers.

It is probable that the huts last examined belong to a
somewhat later age than the others examined previously ; or
else that they were more permanent habitations than those
first explored. The total number explored consists of 20
*t Grimspound, 11 at Langstone Moor, 20 at Broadun and
Broadun Bing, 4 at Tavy Cleave, 2 at Crapps Ring, 6 at
Merrivale Bridge, 11 on Shapley Common, 2 on Whiten
Ridge. In all 73. Of these only those at Shapley and on
Whiten Ridge have yielded pottery.

It is proposed by the Committee next to investigate a
very fine collection at Leggis Tor, on the Plym.

H 2

92 REPORT OF DARTMOOR EXPLORATION COMMITTEE.

In conclusion, the Committee has to express its regret at
the loss of one of its most zealous and indefatigable members,
the Rev. W. Gordon Gray, who has left the counry for
another sphere of work. In his place has been elected the
Rev. G. B. Berry, vicar of Emmanuel, Compton Gifford, who
yields to none in zeal for the exploration of the antiquities
of the Moor, and who is more intimately acquainted with
the eastern portion than any of the other members of the
Committee.

One fact has been rendered probable, as already said, by
the recent excavations — that of the hut circles some are
perhaps a little more recent than others ; but the Committee
are unable at present to express any opinion as to the age
of the hut circles in which pottery occurs. Further investi-
gations are necessary, and these will be undertaken next
autumn. It has, therefore, been deemed advisable to continue
the investigation into the age of, or period during which,
these hut circles were erected ; after which it is their desire
to direct their attention to the Blowing Houses and early
tin-workings on Dartmoor, a matter as yet little studied, but
one of great interest.

It should be added that Mr. Hansford Worth is not in
agreement with the views before expressed regarding the
double character of the wall at Grimspound, and that he
reserves his opinion upon this and the question of strategic
error.

S. Baring-Gould.

Robert Burnard.

R. N. Worth.

R Hansford Worth.

J. Brooking Rowe.

J. D. Pode.

George B. Berry.

OKEHAMPTON BEGINNINGS.

BY R. N. WORTH, F. O. B.
(Read at Okehampton, July, 1895.)

The object of this paper is rather to state the data for the
early history of Okehampton, than to trace that history
itself.

Okehampton first finds written record eight hundred years
ago, in Domesday} wherein it appears as Ochenemitona in the
Exeter, and Ochementone in the Exchequer version. Either
of these agrees far more closely with the traditional folk-form
Ockington, than with the corrupt modern version, common
to polite society, maps, and railway stations — Okehampton.
Precisely the same change has taken place as in the case of
Walkhampton — given as Walchentone and Wachetone in
Domesday, but Wackington still in the familiar speech of
the country-side. And we find the same influence at work
in the conversion of Cedelintona into Chittlehampton.

The first tendency to vary in the modern direction now
traceable is seen late in the thirteenth century. Thus in
Testa de Nevill, circa 1270, the name is Okmeton; in the
Hundred Molls, 2 Ed. I. (1274) Okhamton; while in the
Bishops' Eegisters we find it Hochantone in 1328,
Hochamptone in 1332, Okamptone in 1333. Testa de
Nevill, moreover, preserves the old form in its version of
Monkokehampton — Munekeckementon.

It is perfectly clear that we may altogether dismiss from
our minds the " ham " as a component part of the name of

1 In the course of the discussion on this paper, the Rev. 0. J. Reichel
called attention to the fact that in Leofric's Missal there occurs among the
manumissions " freode hnna set ocmund time on mides sumeres messe eueu."
If this "ocmund tune" is Okehampton, as seems probable, we no doubt
get the name recorded before the Conquest, for Leofric held the see from
1050 to 1073. Of course, ocmund may very well be a variant of Okement,
if not an earlier form in the stricter sense.

94 OKEHAMPTON BEGINNINGS.

the borough and the parish, and that the still current
Ockington is about as near as we are now likely to get to
the sound of the original It is clear also that as Tavistock
is the "stock" of the Tavy, so Ockington was once the "tun"
or enclosure of the river or rivers now known as the Ockment,
or the East and West Ockments. But we find ourselves in
face of a somewhat difficult problem when we try to ascertain
what the precise name of this river originally was.

If it had always been the Ockment, or at least if it had
borne that name before the Saxon planted his " tun " in the
valleys, then Okehampton is simply the "tun," or, as we
should now say, the " town," of the Okement, as Tawton is
the "tun" of the Taw. If, however, the "ment" is a corruption
of the "ing," we have to deal with a duplex question.
"Ing" may be the Saxon for meadow, in which case
Ockington would mean the "tun" of the meadow of the
Ock — such meadow being practically identical with what is
called in Scotland a strath. Or it may represent the Saxon
patronymic particle or clan affix, signifying descendants.
Then Ockington would be the settlement of the family or
tribe of Ock. This rendering of "ing" is strenuously
advocated by Mr. Kemble and his followers, and set forth
at length by Canon Isaac Taylor in Wards and Places. And
that the syllable frequently has this meaning no one can
dispute; but I think it must always be a matter for individual
enquiry in each particular case whether the patronymic or
the meadow meaning is to be chosen. I cannot myself for a
moment believe, in the case of Cockington, for example, that
we are to see in it the settlement of a special family, when
"Coch ing" is the red meadow, patent to all observers — just
as Cocks Tor is the "red tor" it may not infrequently be
seen. Besides, if we accept the clan idea in this case, we
have to believe that the common progenitor gave name to
the river, unless indeed the stream had been regarded as a
figurative parent.

Hence, I cannot escape from this conclusion — either we
have Ockington, the settlement in the lowlands of the Ock
valley ; or the " ing " represents the second syllable in the
name of the river, which we now have as " ment " ; and we
must dismiss from our minds the idea that in historic times
the stream was ever called simply the Ock or Oke. This is
certainly the direction in which Domesday points.

And here we can get some help from analogy. There is,
for example, the Derwent. The " Der " = dwr is one of the
most familiar Keltic words for water, and the "went" is

0KEHAMPT0N BEGINNINGS. 95

commonly accepted as gwent, the compound meaning the
"clear water." The Darenth, near London, affords another
shape of the same combination, still further contracted at
Dartford. And this leads up to our own most forcible
illustration — the Dart Here the dwr is still preserved in
the Dar, but the gwent is only represented by its final " t"
It reappears, however, in fuller form, if the Dart and the
Okement afford a parallel, in the second syllable of Darting-
ton — Dertrin-tone in Domesday, but Derentun when we first
find it mentioned, in 833. The process which changed
Dwr-gwent-tun into Dartington, and that which is suggested
as having turned Ock-gwent-tun into Ockington, would be
absolutely identical.

And here we cannot afford to ignore the fact that the
valley has two Ockingtons — Okehampton proper, and that
which is now called i/cm&okehampton, clearly for distinction.
That both tuns should be named from the river is natural
and common, while any other suggestion must be more or
less forced. The two forms in which the latter name occurs
in Domesday are ifcmoc-ochamantona in the Exeter, and
Jtfim-uchementone in the Exchequer, which is quite as near
as we could reasonably expect to get to the Ochenemitona
and Ochementone of our subject. We are not very much
concerned with the prefix. It has been turned into Monk,
and taken to indicate a former ecclesiastical ownership. As to
which we can say little more than that we find this prefix in
Domesday, when the manor was in Baldwin the Sheriff's own
individual occupation, and that the Saxon owner in the days
of the Confessor was one Vlnod. If any monks ever held
it, therefore, they must have lost it before that date — a thing
quite possible, but, as it seems to me, extremely improbable.
Is it not, to say the least, quite as likely that we have here
simply the very familiar prefix men = " stone," or its derivative
maenic = " stony " ? This, however, by the way.

There are yet other considerations to take into account
We have been hitherto assuming, with Canon Taylor and
others, that the original name of the river was the Ock or
Oke, and a phase of that Keltic word for water — uisge —
which we find in Esk, and Usk, and Axe, and Exe. It may
be, but I confess I do not care to commit myself absolutely
to such a view. It may very well be, also, that Oxford takes
name from a stream called the Oke, which falls into the
Thames at that city ; but it is much more easy to connect
Ox with uisge than Ock, unless we are to fall back on the
possessive form Oke's-ford. And Oke is a frequent prefix

96 OKEIIAMPrON BEGINNINGS.

•where no river is in question. For example, Okeley or
Ockley, in Bedford, Bucks, Hants, Northampton, Surrey,
Suffolk, Shropshire, Wilts ; Ockham or Okeham, in Rutland
and Surrey ; Okingham in Berks ; Ockenden in Essex ;
Oken in Stafford; Ocknell, Hereford; Okethorpe, Derby;
Hockenburie in Kent ; Hochwold in Norfolk ; Hockestow in
Shropshire ; Hockcombe in Somerset ; Haccombe iu Devon ;
and, to go no further, Oakington in Cambridge, which Canon
Taylor suggests as the "tun " of the brings.

There should be very little doubt that in most of these
cases the reference is to the tree. Still, Oke does occur as a
river name; and while we have Okeford in Devon and in
Dorset, we have Ocklebrook in Derbyshire. Our own Devon
Hockworthy, on the other hand, is a tree name, as Acland is
Oakland.

Other local prefixes seem phonetically near of kin — the
Ug in Ugborough and in Ugbrook, for example. The one
has been often accepted as one of the forms of uisge, but no
such hypothesis will fit the former; and, bearing in mind
the cavern at Chudleigh, it may be worth while to note that
the Cornu-Keltic for cavern is ogo, thence fogou, in modern
mining phrase vug.

Another suggestion seems worthy of some consideration*
Uchel is a common Welsh word for "high"; and Uchelton
would supply all we want, if we could assume that occurred
at Okeham pton which we know happened elsewhere — at
Molton, for example, where the blundering Saxon mistook
the name of the height for that of the stream which
descended from it. This derives some show of likelihood
from the fact, as it seems to be, that High Willis, or
Willhayes, is simply another form of this uchel (found also
in Brown Willy), to which the Saxon, taking it for a proper
instead of a common name, prefixed his own descriptive
epithet. Uchel certainly appears elsewhere in the district,
at no very great distance, as Okel Tor, near Tavistock. Oke
Tor on the West Okement is more readily used as an
argument in favour of the uisge hypothesis; and so
possibly the fact that in the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries we find the locality now known as Hook, called
The Hock, as a member of the barony.

Again, the fact that the two streams which unite at
Okehampton town are called the East and West Okements,
and not by different names, like their more important
tributaries, points to two conclusions. First, that they were
so named by persons ascending the joiut stream, which they

OKEHAMPTON BEGINNINGS. 97

first knew by that title ; second, that in all probability they
once had other distinctive names, now lost. Here again we
have uncertainty.

All things considered, therefore, it does not seem a very
wise procedure to attempt any ex cathedra deliverance upon
this special point. That the real name of the town was
never Okehampton, and that the current Ockington is
probably as near as ever we are likely to get to its original
phonetic value, should not indeed a'dmit of controversy. The
modern "ing" is generally represented in our local Domesday
by " en " or " in." Witness Alvintone for Alphington ;
Ermentone for Ermington; Ferentone for Faringdon; God-
rintone for Goodrington ; Toritone for Torrington — and so on.
Ockington thus falls strictly within the rule. This point
attained, however, we find before us an embarrassing choice
of paths ; and, as it seems to me, there is only one certain
conclusion that can be drawn — this namely, that the final
" tun " must inevitably be accepted as an adequate proof of
the Saxon origin of the community.

The Domesday record touching Okehampton runs as
follows :

" Baldwin, the sheriff, has a manor called Ochenemitona, which
Offers [or Osfers] held on the day on which King Edward was
alive and dead, and it rendered geld for three virgates and one
ferling. Thirty ploughs can plough this. Of them Baldwin has
one virgate and one ferling aud four ploughs in demesne, and the
villeins two virgates and twenty plough?. There Baldwin has
thirty-one villeins, and eleven bordars, and eighteen serfs, and six
swineherds, and one packhorse, and fifty-two head of cattle, and
eighty sheep, and one mill which renders six shillings and eight-
pence a year, and three leugas of wood in length, and one in
breadth, and five acres of meadow, and of pasture one leuga in
length, and a half in breadth. And in this land stands the castle
of Ochenemitona. There Baldwin has four burgesses and a
market which return four shillings a year. This manor is worth,
with its appurtenances, ten pounds, and it was worth eight pounds
when Baldwin received it1'

In the Exchequer Book the name is Ochementone; the
number of villeins is given as twenty-one, instead of thirty-
one; and the description leads off with the words "And
there stands a castle."

Offers, whose name also occurs as Osfernus, Osferdus, and
Osfers, had held under Edward the manors of Belestham
(Belstone), Chenlie (Kelly), Limet (in North Tawton),

98 OKEHAMPTON BEGINNINGS.

Filelia (Filleigh), Prenla (Prewley), Taintona (Drewsteignton),
Spreitone (Spreyton), and Witewei (in Kingsteignton) ; all of
which passed to Baldwin. And either he or another of the
same name had held also William of Pollei's manor of Legh,
or North Leigh.

The acreage of Baldwin's manor totals up to 4025, while
the present area of the parish is 9552. It must be borne in
mind, however, that the parish contains a large area of waste,
which would find no place in the Domesday assessment, and
certainly two, probably three, other manors — Meldon,
Alfordon, and Cheesacot. But Baldwin's manor was by far
the largest and most valuable, including the town, castle, and
park.

There is one very significant detail in the Domesday entry.
The manor was worth £8 a year in Offers's time, and had
risen to be worth £10 a year in Baldwjp's ; but it is only
assessed at three virgates and a ferling, or, in other words, at
three ferlings less than a hide. And as the Saxon hide, as
an actual land area, was practically the same as the Norman
carucate — a plough land — it follows that since the date of
the imposition of the Danegeld, the arable land of the manor
must have increased between thirty and forty fold. For the
hidage was originally imposed on the whole area actually
cultivated, though the hide soon drifted into a fiscal unit,
having no closer connection with actual land values than the
land-tax of the present day.

Okehampton, then, it is perfectly evident, was a flourish-
ing community long before Baldwin the Sheriff saw how
admirably it was situated, from its central position, and its
capabilities of defence, for the seat of his shrievalty, and the
head of his barony.

Domesday contains a full list of the manors held by
Baldwin, but does not set them forth in their relations as
parts of his great barony — members of the Honour of
Okehampton. There is, however, an early record, already
cited, called the Testa de Ncvill (temp. Henry III.-Edward I.,
circa 1270), which is primarily a register of the various
knights' fees in the kingdom, and I have thought it well to
take out the list of the members of the barony of Oke-
hampton, held at that date by John of Courtenay, with the
names of their holders, and the statement of their services
in fees, or portions of fees. It is worthy of note that there
are considerable variations in this record from the list in
Domesday. True, the number of estates or manors separately

OKEHAMPTON BEGINNINGS.

mentioned (including repetitions, which cannot always be
distinguished from different places of like name) is about
the same — 183 in one case, and 182 in the other. But only
some two-thirds of the holdings in the later list can be
distinctly connected with those in the earlier. Quite half of
the remainder did not belong to Baldwin when Domesday
was compiled; and though the bulk of the remnant probably
represent divisions and changes of name rather than of
ownership, the variations are greater than might have been
anticipated. The list is taken from the official published
copy, but it is manifest that this is inaccurate in some
details of nomenclatural orthography.

A point to which incidental reference may be made is the
evidence afforded by the list of the growth of territorial
surnames. This is seen most clearly when we regard the
" de " as it was treated in those days, as the simple equivalent
for "of," instead of the distinct nomenclatural entity of
modern aristocratic ideas.

TESTA DE NEVILL.
Fboda de Okemeton Joh'is de Curtenay.

} {

Roger Cole holds in

Thomas of Cbenne
William of Wray
John of Begin
John, son of Roger,
and Joel of Bosco
Heirs of Richard the Espet

Alan of Hallesworth
William of Punchardun
John Burnel and

Simon Lamprye
Walter of Nimet

Elienor of Hause
Robert of Greneslade
Hugo of Niwelaunde
Adam of Risford

Richard of Chedeledune
William of Hospital

Robert of Stoddune
Galiena of Bonevileston
Henry of Corelaunde

Hardewineslegh
Chenneston
Wyk

Eggeneeford
La Legh )

Pertricheswall J
Wemmeworth and

Briggeford
Clovenebuigh
Waleston, La Thome
Burdenileston

half a fee.
fourth of a fee.
fourth „
half a fee.

fourth of a fee.

two fees.

[fee.
three parts of a
fourth of a fee.
one fee.

Nimet Still an deslegh, fee with member

and in Bere

Hause half a fee.

Greneslade third of a fee.

Niwelaunde sixth „
Braddemmet,Apeldure,one fee.

and Miweton

Chedeledune tenth of a fee.

Le Hospital, and in third

Hamtenesford

Cadebirie fifth

Bonevileston eighth

Corelaunde eighth

»>

100

OKEHAMPTON BEGINNINGS.

Roger Fromtmd and )
Robert of Denlegh J
Hugo of Baylekeworth
Robert of the Eetane
Roger Cole
Nicholas Avenel
Henry of Yerde
Ralph of Esse
Robert of Sideham
Jordon, son of Rogon
Philip of Beaumont (Bello

Monte)
Heirs of Richard Beaupel
William of Ptinchardon

Abbot of Dunkevill

Roger, son of Simon
Heirs Oliver of Champer-
nowne (Campo Emu 1 phi)
Walter the Lou
Nicholas of Filelgh
Robert of Hokesham
Nicholas of Avenel
Philip of Beaumont
William of Punchardon
Ralph of Esse
Roger the Monk (Moyne)
Vincent of Loliwill
Heirs William of Aubernun
John of Molis

Richard Cadyo

Heirs Baldwin of Belestane
Richard, son of Ralph, and )

Shitelesbere and )

Worthi J

Baylekeworth

Stayne

Hamtene8ford

Mansard

Yerde

Esse

Rakneford

Wodeburn, Westapse

Asford

four parts of a

half fee.
sixth of a fee.
eighth „
tenth „
one fee.
half a fee.
third of a fee.
one fee.
one fee.
one fee.

Geoffrey of Radeweye

Drogo of Teynton

Adam of Risford

William of Legh, \

Walter of Mumlaunde, I
& Adam & Margery j
of Hunichurche J

Richard of Langeford

William of Kelly

Peter Corby n

Heirs Elie Coffin

GeofTry Coffin

Westesford half a fee.

Hyaunton&Hakynton, three fees.

with Blakewille
Lincumb, Worcumb, two fees.

and Middelm'wode
Worcumb fifth of a fee.

Alfrincumb one fee.

Kentesbir one fee.

Filelgh half a fee.

Well [West] Boclaunde one fee.
Snyddelg* half a fee.

Shirevill one & a half fees.

Charnes one fee.

Anestye half a fee.

Frodetone & Westecot half „
Niweton and Weston half „
Bradeford eighth of a fee.

Lethebrok, Durneford, two & a half fees.
Yekesburn, Hyaunton
Lewidecot1, Cockescumb, one fee.
Westcot, & Rokewrth
Belestane
Harpeford and )
Radeweye J

half a fee.
half

>»

Wythelegh'
Brigteneston

Hunichurch

twentieth of a fee.
third of a fee.

one fee.

Munekeckementon half a fee.
Brawode third of a fee.

Cor bines ton sixth „ [fee.

Ward legh & Westecot one & a quarter
Cakob' and C'ffte half a fee.

OKEHAMPTON BEGINNINGS. 101

Philip Perer Gorehiwisse half a fee.

Heirs Peter of Syrefuntayne Maddeford fourth of a fee.

Richard Passem' Well [West] Polewrth tenth „

Lucy of Buredune Buredune tenth „

Philip of Beaumont Lancarse fourth ,,

Heirs Baldwin of Belestane Parkeham two fees.

William the Cornu Hunshane half a fee.

Ralph of Estaneston Puderigh one fee.

Roger Giffard La Meye one fee.

Ralph of Wulledane Wulledane half a fee.

Heirs William of Aubernan Stockelg' half ,,

John of Satchvill (Sicca Villa) Yauntone half ,,

William and Alexander Tany Com ton eighth of a fee.

Robert of Shete Cumbe half a fee.

John of Tl SmalecumbeandinT'l half ,,

Henry of the Forde La Forde eighth of a fee.

Roger the Ver and 1 0 . . , . - .

Stephen of Uffeville ) Suttecumbe sevenpartaofafee.

William of Colevill Colevill one fee.

Roger the Ver and \ Tjffevill ' one fee

Stephen of Uffevill J UDevl11 one lee*

Herbert of Pryun Braunford one fee.

Heirs Alexander of Tanton RoUandeston tixth of a fee.

John of Nevill Dunesford half a fee.

Ralph of Bo8co Matf ord eighth of a fee.

Heirs of Richard Cadyly Racumbe one fee.

Warin, son of Joel Medenecumbe half a fee.8

Peter of the Pole Medenecumbe half ,,

Richard of Teyng Teyng half ,,

Stephen of Haccumbe Ridmore and Clifford two parts of a fee.

Heirs Ingram of Aubernan Teyngton three parts of

half a fee.

William of Risford Risford three parts of fee.

Philip Talebot Spreiton cum memb' one fee.

Same Philip Huttenealegh' half a fee.

William of Kelly Eggebere, Buledune one fee.

Heire Nicholas of Fuleford Fuleford half a fee.

Heirs of Melehiwiss Melehiwiss one fee.

Thomas of Tetteburn Tetteburn fee and quarter.

Heirs Richard Cadiho Wallerige half a fee.

Henry Guraunt In same half ,,

Reynold of Holleham Calchurch fourth of a fee.

Ralph of Albemarle (Alba Westecot and Haghe one fee.

Mara)

Richard of Langeford Wyk half a fee.

* de antiquo s3 nunc nullum facit militare.

102

OKEHAMPTON BEGINNINGS.

Hamel of Dyandune,
Walter of Bathon, and
Richard the Bret
Henry Gubant
Robert of Meledune
Geoffry of Hok
Elias of Tempol
Muriel of Bolley
Roger of Telegh
William of Kelly
William Trenchard

William of Arundel
Roger Giffard
Roger of Hele

BrattoD, Cumbe, and
Coddescot

Alfardesdane
Meledune
La Hok
Stackelegh
Byrightestowe
Dunterdune
Kelly and Medvill
Lew (Lim) and

Wadeleston
Orcherd

Payhaumbiry, Seghlak half a fee.
Hele one fee.

one fee.

half a fee.
sixth of a fee.
sixth „
half a fee.
one fee.
one fee.
one fee.
three parts of a

fee.
fourth of a fee.

Henry, son of Henry, and\ Kentelesbere, Pauntesford, three fees.

Heirs Hugo of Bolley
Richard of Langeford
Oliva of Seghlak
William of Chivethorne
Alice of Ros

/ Kyngesford, Catteshegh'
Langeford half a fee.

Seghlak

Chivethorne

C'tecumb

•Hugo of Bonvill (Bynnevill) Hackewrth

Jordan, son of Rogon
Richard of Hidune
Herbert of Pynn
Jordan, son of Rogon
Abbot of DunkevOl
Richard of Hidune
Wydo of Briaune
Henry of Sparkevill
John, son of Richard
Stephen of Haccumb
Abbot of Torr

Holecumbe

Hidune

Culum

Navicote

Bolleham

Clill [Clistri

Torre and Weston

Sparkevill

Blakedune

Haccumb

Wullebergh8

Hyanac

Parva Maneton

Nitheredune

Richard Gimenet'

Heirs Hugo of Langedene

Robert of Hylam

Reginald Bernehus and \ Asmundeswrth

William of Sttokeswurth J

Sameric of Sarmunvill

Ruard, son of Alan

tenth of a fee.
half a fee.
two parts of a fee.
half a fee.
one fee.
sixth of a fee.
one fee.
half a fee.
third of a fee.
half a fee.
one fee.
half a fee.
half a fee.
third of a fee.

one fee.
fourth of a fee.
sixth „
half a fee.

Parva Ernescumbe one fee.

Roger of Fulle Pulle [Prawle]

Heirs William of Bikebiry Engeleburne

Girard of Spine to Teyng

Robert of Hylum Shaplegh

Herbert of Cumb Judaneston

Hugo Peverel Mammehavede

Doddebrok and PoM half a fee and
lemue and Lamsede/ third of a fee.

four parts of a fee.
one fee.
half a fee.
one fee.
sixth of a fee.
one fee.

1 Formerly one fee, now in pare alms.

OKEHAMPTON BEGINNINGS. 103

Thomas and Reginald del Holecumbe and } half a fee.

Uppecott and Son of)- Uppecot

Geoffery of the Hak J

Osborn the Bat Teigemue sixth of a fee.

Unfrey of the Shete La Shete fourth „

Roger the Poer Yetematon eighth ,,

William Heriztm Daledich half a fee.

John Tebaut Rakebere half ,,

Heirs Baldwin of Balestane Rakebere & Dodetofi one fee.

John of Cartenay Ailesbere half in demesne.

The older general records of the nation supply very scant
material to the early history of Okehampton. Rymer and
his Foedera are practically silent. The Taxation of Pope
Nicholas gives the value of the church of Hocamton at
£10 13s. 4d. annually, and of the vicarage at £1 6s. 8d.
This was of course in 1291 ; and much about the same date
we find Hugh of Courtenay showing, in reply to a quo
tvarranto, that he and all his ancestors had held the barony
" from a time when memory of man ran not to the contrary "
— rather a big phrase for little more than two hundred years
— with its various liberties, including assize of bread and
beer, rights of gallows, tumbrel, pillory, market, pleas of
blood, and free warren.

The only place in short where we do glean any detailed
information is in the Hundred Bolls of 2 Edward I. (1274),
where we have the finding of the following jury for Oke-
hampton : John son of Dean (fil Decani), Richard Osmund,
Michael of the Gate (de Porta), Martin Smith (Faber), Walter
Halpeni, Walter Taylfer, Geoffrey Osmund, Richard the
Hare, Geoffrey of the Mill (de Molend), Randolph Globbe,
Richard son of Smith (fil Faber), and John Painter (Pictor).

These declare on their oath, on behalf of the " Burgh of
Ochamton," that the manor of Lydford, with the castle and
the forest of Dertemore, pertained to the Crown until King
Henry, father of King Edward that then was, gave them to
his brother Richard, Earl of Cornwall, how, or by what
warrant, they knew not. Moreover, the lords of the manor
of Lifton, whosoever they were, held the "foreign" (Jorinsecum)
of the hundred of Lifton (that is those parts of the hundred
lying outside the manor), and had the return of writs of the
Sheriff of Devon and the Crown, with the right to hold pleas
of court, and to have two separate judges (coronatores seperales),
one in the hundred "foreign" of Lifton, and one in the
manor of Lideford.

104 OKEHAMPTON BEGINNINGS.

I give the deliverances of the jury with regard to Oke-
hampton in fuller form.

"They eay also that Hugh of Curtenay held the manor of
Okhamton with its purtenances of the king in chief, that his
ancestors had held the same from the time of the Conquest in
baronage, and that the manor of Okhamton was the head of all
the barony of the aforesaid Hugh.

" They say that the aforesaid Hugh holds of the lord king in
chief ninety-two fees by the service of two (duorum) knights
(milites) in the army for forty days.

" Which and what fees he now holds, and by whom tbey are
held, and for what time, save those in the manor of Okhamton,
they know not.

" They say that Robert of Meledon holds of the Lord Hugh the
fourth part of a fee, and for what time, and by what homage and
service they know not.

" They say that William, son of Ralph, holds a fourth part of &
fee, as the aforesaid Robert.

" They say that John of Uppecot holds the eighth part of a fee
in manner aforesaid.

" They say that Nicholas of Hok holds the tenth part of a fee
aforesaid.

" Of others they know nothing.

" They say that Hugh of Curtenay and his ancestors have and
had royal liberties (Ubertates regias) as gallows, assize of bread
and beer, and a free chace in the manor of Lideford as far as to
the bounds of the forest of Dertemore, with a free warren, from
the time of the Conquest.

"They say that John of Wyk, clerk, and .Reginald Botrigan,
sometime bailiffs of the hundred of Lifton, had, by the hand of
the aforesaid Reginald, levied and received to the use of the lord
king {opus dni Reg.) of the burgh of Okhamton 8* 5d of the
tenth which hitherto had been in gross with the hundred of
Lifton (adhuc veniunt in sumonicione in grosso cum hundredo de
Lifton).

S&SuJlL 2Q 'zfrLi}/ " ^na^y *ney ^y ^h** J°hn of Curteney, who held the manor
"""y \ akc^ an(j baro^ ^ied on the Sunday next before the Invention of the

J/Hfty 'fi\H Holy Cross, in the second year of King Edward, and that the
/ * burgh was thence for two months in the hands of the lord king,

nothing being thence received.'7

Let us now see what we can glean from the evidence of
Okehampton's oldest antiquity, the earthwork on the hill
above the East Okement, which we have been told to regard
as a " camp," and in which Mr. Fothergill and his followers
have seen the result of successive operations of Kelts, Danes,
and Romans.

OKEHAMPTON BEGINNINGS. 105

In the first place let me say that there is not the slightest
indication of the Eomans in or near Okehampton — that the
so-called " Eoman road " so plainly marked on the map
traversing the Park is a mere figment of exuberant anti-
quarian fancy; and that it is most difficult to understand
how anyone can have imagined the lower of the earthworks
could ever have formed part of a Roman "camp," or, indeed,
that they ever were a " camp " at all. The sole foundation
for the hypothesis was clearly the fact of their rectangular
plan, and dates back only to the time when all square earth-
works were as certainly dubbed Roman as all round ones
Danish.

Surely the slightest reflection ought to have shown that
earthen banks so placed, approaching the lower slope of a
hill, whatever else they may have been, could have had no
primarily defensive purpose. We cannot imagine any fighting
people so utterly wanting in military foresight, as either to
have placed a " camp " in such a position while the crest of
the hill was open to their occupation, or when that crest
was occupied by the defenced post of an enemy. Either
alternative is absurd. It is far more probable that these
banks had a much later and utilitarian origin, akin to that
of the more modern hedges with which they are now con-
nected; and, if anything like the age of the higher earthwork,
they would probably date from a time when the absolute
ne$d of defence had so far passed away, that it was fairly
safe to store the sheep and cattle in an enclosure away from,
while overlooked by, the stronghold, as a matter of greater
convenience than within the fortified enclosure itself. A
Roman camp, had there been one in the neighbourhood,
would have been planted on the plateau, probably not far
off the site of the present artillery quarters. We may dismiss
the Romans, with the fancied pretorium and speculum, (on
the lowest point, too !) from our purview altogether.

The earthwork on the crest is quite another matter. It is
the remnant of a hill fort of considerable strength, on a site
admirably chosen for defence, and may unhesitatingly be
given a British or Keltic origin. It consists of the tongue
of the headland bounded on two sides by the precipitous
ravines of the Moor Brook and the East Okement, cut off
from the main hill by a strong earthen vallum and fosse.
This is precisely the method of defence which we find in the
so-called cliff castles of Cornwall, and which Caesar describes
as the defensive custom of the Venetii. Exactly the same
thing was done by the Kelts at Lydford, but on a larger

VOL. XXVII. I

106 OKKHAMPTON BEGINNINGS.

scale, as is still plainly visible. Only in the case of Lydford
the site was adopted by the Saxon, and in turn by the
Norman, and has come down to our days a place of habitation.
This hill fort, without reasonable doubt, was the original
of what we now call Okehampton — a fact of which Mr.
Fothergill indeed seems to have had a glimpse. And it
never had anything to do with the Danes. Their only
recorded local raid stopped at Lydford ; and it is abundantly
evident that the name of the " Dane's battery " is traceable
to the familiar linguistic blunder that led the common
people and older antiquaries alike to see Dane's castles in
each " Castle-an-dinas," ignorant of the fact that dinas was
simply the Keltic for a fortalice or stronghold on a height,
of which castle was merely a reduplication. A part of the
Keltic name of this earthwork must have been " dinas " ; and
as there were no others in the immediate vicinity, it may
very well have been known as " the Dinas."

The position, as I have said, is one of great strength.
Better defences could hardly have been wished for south and
east than the precipitous sides of the converging ravines,
connected as these natural escarpments were by an earthen
mound, which must have been originally at least twenty
feet high on the exterior, from the bottom of the ditch
whence the greater part of the materials were dug. The
present highest point is about fifteen feet on the exterior,
and portions of the ditch are still at least five feet deep.
What appears at first sight to be the entrance is not so, but
a spot where a part of the vallum has been thrown into the
ditch to make a readier access to the pasture area within.
The original entrance was at the south-west corner, in the
narrow angle between the vallum and the ravine of the
Moor Brook; and, ruined as it is, still indicates somewhat
of its defensive character, the natural dangers of the point
of access to an attacking party rendering further outworks
unnecessary.

Mr. Fothergill and others speak of the presence of traces
of walls within the area. But this is pure error, and one
into which they have evidently been led by the broken
jointing of the outcrop of the natural rock, the ground being
traversed by bands of greenstone. Man is responsible for
the earthern bank, but for nothing more.

Whether the Saxon followed the Kelt in the occupation
of the fortalice we cannot say. Probably not, for the name
of Halstock shows that a Saxon "strength," defended by
stockades, was planted on the other side of the Moor Brook

OEEHAMPTON BEGINNINGS. 107

valley — Halstock meaning simply the " stock " or "stoke" on
the moor. It is as plain now as it was eleven or twelve
centuries since, that this site, while easily defensible, was
better adapted for tillage ; and we may very fairly assume
that it was the cultivated land about Halstock which we
find represented in the Danegeld assessment of three virgates
and a ferling (or less than a hundred acres) ; and that the
chief cause of the later prosperity of the manor was the
shifting of the settlement to the meadows in the fork of the
Okements, and the foundation of Okington or Ockmenton,
when the special need for defence had so far passed away
that the more peaceful enclosure of the " tun " might safely
replace the more warlike " stock " — Halstock, however, being
in all likelihood still retained as a place of special retreat
and shelter.

At the same time the matter of defence was not overlooked
in the choice of the new site. Placed, as the new tun was,
in the fork of the two rivers, two sides of the triangle were
very fairly defended by these natural moats ; while the
enclosure of the infant burgh must have been completed by
a bank cutting off the triangular area which formed the
germ of the infant community. It is not very difficult, from
a consideration of the plan of the present town, to form
some idea of its original In the first place, it would not
have extended beyond the limits of the two Okements. In
the second, the wide road now called Fore Street must be the
direct successor of the open space in which the markets were
held, and the various outdoor gatherings of the good people
of the ville took place. In the third, the long tenemental
strips, into which the apex of the triangle north of Fore
Street is divided, with their respective dwellings, must more
or less closely represent a number of the original burgage
heldings. In the fourth it seems a fair inference that the
limit of the " tun " southward may be regarded as substan-
tially marked by a line following the present lane from the
ford at the gas works on the East Okement, and so more or
less directly to the West — just where the dip of the ridge
ends — possibly fairly along existing property boundaries.
However much it may have been the custom in later days
to build houses on or against town walls, in these primitive
strongholds it was of more importance to keep up the most
direct means of communication along the internal cincture.
But this, of course, is more or less speculative. The gate
would be somewhere on the south (it was many a long year,

certainly not until Norman times, ere Fore Street became the

I 2

108 OKEHAMPTON BEGINNINGS.

thoroughfare between East and West), and in all probability
near the point where the roads now intersect.

The comparatively small increase of value — £2 — in the
twenty years or so between the reception of the manor by
Baldwin and the Survey shows that it owed little of its
prosperity to him. He was probably far more concerned in
building his castle, and the fortunes of the burgh would be
quite subsidiary, and with the building of the castle the
special need for burghal defences would pass away.

When did the original "tun" become a "burgh." Certainly
before Domesday was compiled; for we find it stated that
Baldwin had four burgesses there and a market returning
four shillings a year.

And the coupling of the burgesses with the market, and the
correspondence of four shillings with four burgesses, point
pretty plainly to the conclusion that burghal character and
market powers went together, and that the distinguishing
franchise of these four burgesses was the farming of the
market. As the castle was founded by Baldwin, so no doubt
was the market, alike for the convenience of his household,
and for his own personal profit. The mill, it will be seen,
was worth considerably more than the market — 6s. 8d. a year.

There is good evidence in the record of two charters — one
granted by Kobert Courtenay in the earlier part of the
thirteenth century, and the other by Hugh Courtenay in
1291. The originals of these charters are not known to
exist, which is the more unfortunate, since the printed
translation of the first is clearly inaccurate in sundry points,
and the copies of both are said to present sundry variations.
The Turberville charter of South Molton still holds the first
place with us in point of original antiquity.

One of the most important points in Robert's charter, for
which he was paid ten marks, is the statement that the
liberties and free customs thereby conferred dated from the
time of Eichard, son of Baldwin the Sheriff, which infers
the existence of a special grant by him. It seems also as if
a yearly payment of twelve pence by each burgage as the
condition of the enjoyment of these franchises dated from
the same period. By Robert's charter the burgesses were
empowered to elect a "Prepositum et Praeconem," which
Richard Shebbeare's copy renders a " portreeve and beadle."
The portreeve is clear enough ; he is simply the continuation
of the old Saxon headman or reeve of the township. But
why praeconem should be rendered beadle, when, as Du Cange

OKEHAMPTON BEGINNINGS. 109

will show, the name may be applied to all sorts of municipal
officials, from a mayor to an apparitor, or serjeant, or crier, it
is not quite easy to see, especially as the only duty assigned
to him is to pay 6d. in order to be quit of tallage, while the
portreeve, one of whose duties it was to gather the market
toll in the town, was not only free of tallage, but had a shilling
of the toll by way of salary. If we assume that the praeconem
was the assistant and officer of the portreeve in the discharge
of his duties we shall not, I suspect, be very wide of the
mark.

The fine set forth for offences against the lord is twelve-
pence, to be increased for repeated trespass.

Timber was granted from the wood of Okehampton to
build houses on new burgages ; and men could become free
of the burgh in three years, paying fourpence each to the
lord and the burgh the first year, fourpence to the lord the
second, and the third year taking up a burgage. Burgesses
were free to sell their burgages (except to houses of religion,
which would deprive the lord of his rights) on paying their
debts, twelvepence to the lord, and fourpence each to the
burgh and portreeve. Moreover, they could leave them to
their heirs, could marry (also their children) as they would ;
and could have a sow and four pigs without pannage in
Okehampton wood. The market regulations were severe,
and the tolls somewhat high, save for ware under fourpenee,
which went' free — the toll for a horse being a penny, for an
ox a halfpenny, and for five sheep or five hogs a penny.
The penalty for defrauding toll was 5s. for a farthing,
10s. for a halfpenny, 20s. for a penny. The burgesses were
authorized to take the law in their own hands if any man
bore away the debt of any burgess, until satisfaction was
made; and were made toll free throughout the grantor's
right in Devon.

Hugh Courtenay's charter deals with an exchange of the
rights of the burgesses to common of pasture, for other rights
on other parts of the manor, in order to settle controversy
which had arisen, the condition being the gift by the burgesses
of two casks (dolia) of wine. Here of course is the historic
origin of the existing common rights.

One of the three chief antiquities of Okehampton has
been already dealt with — the " camp." Of the other two the
castle claims separate handling. There is no reason, however,
for deferring the little that has to be said of Brightley Priory,
the germ of the famous house of Ford. The accepted story

110 OKEHAMPTON BEGINNINGS.

touching Brightley is, that it was founded by Richard de
Redvers in 1135, and colonised by Cistercians from Waverley.
Failing, however, in some way to make their position good,
they resolved to return to Waverley in 1141, their patron
having died four years previously. They were met, walking
in procession, on their road back at Thorncombe by Adelicia,
Richard's sister, and she giving them her manor of Thorn-
combe, instead of returning to Waverley they reared the
Abbey of Ford. I must confess, however, that to my mind
this incident seems a little too dramatic to have been purely
accidental, and that I cannot help thinking the whole affair,
if it happened as related, was pre-arranged. The site at
Brightley, in the lowlands by the river, is just one of those
in which the farmer monks delighted; and the name —
the "bright" or "clear" pasture — seems to indicate its
reputation as a pleasant place. The monks are said to have
petitioned to be removed, because the ground produced only
" thyme and wild nightshade," which, if so, does not increase
one's appreciation of their veracity. It is much more
probable that their patron's successor in the barony did not
regard them with the same favour ; and it is quite possible
that the cause is hinted at in the clause of Robert's charter,
prohibiting the alienation of burgages to houses of religion.
We all know how the legislature had to interfere in later
times.

The house had never grown to any notable dimensions,
and the present remains are naturally very scanty ; while if
the buildings had ever been of any size or architectural
character, there would be indications in the walls of the
adjacent hamlet, in some fragments, at any rate, of worked
stone. Still there should have been a chapel of sufficient
importance to receive the remains of their first patron ; for
we read that they were removed thence for burial to Ford,
with the remains of another Richard, the first abbot.

It has been commonly held that the only relic of the old
Priory is a round-headed granite arch in one of the walls
of the barn at the farm which now occupies the site; but
having been indebted to the courtesy of Mr. Palmer, the
occupier, for an inspection of the house, I feel very little
doubt that some of the walls of the domestic buildings are
there preserved; and the fact that the arch is in the west
wall of the barn, which orientates east and west with
remarkable precision, leads one to suggest that it may have
been the doorway of the chapel. There are no characteristic
features about it beyond the fact that it is deeply splayed

OKEHAMPTON BEGINNINGS. Ill

internally, corresponding with the openings in the older part
of the castle. If the present Priory Farm, which belongs to
the Okehampton Charity Trustees, and is only ten acres in
extent, bears any definite relation to the original holding of
the monks, that will be an additional reason for treating the
Priory as of very small importance — merely the germ, in short,
of what, under other conditions, it might have become.

The curious suggestion has been made that the presence
of a cross on the presumed "tombstone," dug up while
Okehampton Church was being rebuilt in 1843 (now built
into the eastern wall of the fabric), indicates that the person
commemorated was an ecclesiastic — hence that he might
have been connected with Brightley. I need hardly say
that all that it meant was that he was a Christian. One
rather wonders, likewise, that there should have been any
hesitation in reading the inscription, seeing that it is only
at the end that any difficulty is apparent. The published
reading is, "hic iaced rober cvb de moie b." The correct
reading is, " mc iacet robertvs de moles." I have called
it a presumed " tombstone," because it is all but absolutely
certain that it is the lid of a stone coffin, and if so, from its
small size — four feet in length, and sixteen inches only
in width at the widest point, the head — commemorating a
child.

Who then was this Eobert of Moles ? It will be recalled
at once that among the aliases of Baldwin the Sheriff is that
of Baldwin de Molis. Eoger of Moles, whom the Lysons
suggest as probably a brother or son of Baldwin, was also
the Domesday holder of Lew Trenchard, and the ancestor
of the Lords de Meules, one of whom in the thirteenth
century married Margaret, the daughter of Hugh, Lord
Courtenay. At first it seemed not unlikely that the Eobert
in question might have been a child of that marriage.
Neither the dates nor conditions, however, fit. The Oke-
hampton church which was burnt down in 1842, was
consecrated in 1261; but it is also on record that the
chancel was rebuilt in 1417. There was, however, a church
long before 1261 ; and the presumption, from what we know
commonly happened elsewhere, is that at the rebuilding of
1261 the old chancel was allowed to remain, and continued > / i •■-./' 'rf
in use until replaced some century and a half later. And it v "v*,,"^
is certainly difficult to understand how one portion of the "y " *' " _'__J
1261 structure should come for rebuilding in 1417, and the j£~~ , ..;-. £u
remainder stand so many centuries longer. , I, ■ r

112 OKEHAMPTON BEGINNINGS.

The statement with regard to the Robertus stone is that it
was found six feet below the surface, in digging up the
foundations of the chancel wall, and that it had " evidently
been used for a building stone" — a conclusion which depends
entirely upon the accuracy of observation of the finders. It
is quite clear that it was located just the right depth for an
interment. It is equally clear that no memorial belonging
to a family of such local importance would ever have been
turned to such a use in 1261, very doubtfully in 1417 ; but
that all the conditions might very well have been fulfilled by
overlooking the interment when the later chancel was built.
Of course, if it was a coffin lid, the coffin ought to have been
found ; but on that head I have no information.

The positive, as distinct from the inductive evidence,
however, not only places the stone before 1261, but con-
siderably earlier; for the distinctive characteristics of the
lettering are Saxon, and point to the eleventh century rather
than the twelfth. Whether Robert of Moles was a son of
Baldwin, elsewhere unrecorded, or of his brother who finds
place in the family pedigree, is of course doubtful ; but one
or the other in my mind he certainly seems to have been ;
and the memorial is therefore considerably nearer eight than
seven hundred years old. I can only add my regret that
this remarkable relic of antiquity was not placed within
the Church instead of without.

SPOET ON DARTMOOR

BY W. P. COLLIER.
(Read at Okehampton, July, 1805.;

An apology is due from me for introducing to this scientific
and learned Society such a frivolous subject as Sport There
are many of our members, also, who are exceedingly humane
— a word which, by virtue of the addition of the letter
" e," transfers the adjective " human " to its very opposite,
"humane," for of all creatures the human mortal is the
most cruel, if not the only creature that can be called cruel
at all.

Sport is very human, and is undoubtedly cruel. But as man
is full of contradictions, among sporting men may be found
those who have the most sympathy with the lower animals,
because they know them and their ways best.

The earliest man of whom we have any evidence was a
hunter and a fisher. The higher apes are not carnivorous,
and very far indeed from being cannibal. But although
nations on nations of men are now vegetarian, existing on
fruit, which includes rice and corn of ail sorts, the earliest
men of whom we have any trace seem to have been hunters
and fishers.

In a climate such as England, and such as Dartmoor, they
were certainly hunters, and we have their early weapons in
evidence. Was there anything else in England on which
they could live, except the beasts of the field and the fish of
the sea and rivers ? Man was a fisherman in very remote ages,
and to this day, it is said, fish are his most wholesome diet

When a man hunts or fishes for his living it is not sport.
Ask the fishermen of Plymouth if it is sport Men now
live by fishing, but the only men who now live by hunting
are some of the wild savage nations not reached by the
march of civilization, and it would be idle to ask them if
hunting is sport.

114 SPORT ON DARTMOOR.

The idea of sport must have arisen when the skilled
hunter found himself superseded by the herdsman and
shepherd, when the beasts of the chase were a luxurious
change in diet, and not a necessity. Still the object of
sport was food, until quite recent times, when sport is
followed for sport's sake, and food is altogether a secondary
consideration. Our chief sport now is fox-hunting, and we
do not eat foxes.

The red-deer, I take it, indigenous to Europe, and per-
vading nearly the whole Continent, was the great object of
man's desire as a hunter after his food, in the most primitive
days that we are aware of. We have evidence of the
presence of the reindeer, elk, and others of the tribe, but
the red-deer was all-pervading. And he is the object of sport
still, not far from Okehampton, on Exmoor, where the wild
red-deer is now hunted, whose ancestry might be traced to
the very earliest days as food for primitive man on Dartmoor.

The red -deer was the great object of the chase, when
hunting was first regarded as a sport throughout Europe,
and methods of hunting him were brought over from France
by the Conqueror — methods then new to the natives in
general. The French hunting-terms are now used, and our
famous cry, " Tally-ho ! " is only a corruption of the French
call, " II est alU-lw ! " when a deer had gone away. They
have also the term " blanching " a deer, on Exmoor, used as
we should say "heading" a fox, that is stopping him and
turning him back— a great sin in fox-hunting.

The Forest Laws, so well-known as tyrannical, were
hunting laws, often used, however, as a means of suppressing
a people, and are very curious. The pack of hounds is a
modern invention ; the old method was the arrow from the
bow, and the stricken deer was run down by hounds at gaze.
William Eufus was killed by an arrow when hunting in the
New Forest — the red-deer, no doubt. Hunting the red-deer
was the sport of kings and princes, with their retinue, and
the ceremonial was complicated and extravagant.

We have it on record that Devonshire was disafforested
in the reign of King John, with the exception of Dartmoor
and Exmoor. A forest in those days was a part of the
country not cultivated, not held by any tenant under the
Crown, hunted over by the King, and subject to the Forest
Laws. *If the whole of Devonshire were disafforested by
John, except Dartmoor and Exmoor, it was a forest before,
under the Forest Laws, and hunted over by the King at his
pleasure. As I am now dealing with sport, it is needless to

SPORT ON DARTMOOR. 115

inquire why this large, fertile county should be made a
forest in times so late as King John. I have before
suggested that these Western people were a trouble to the
Normans, and were put under the Forest Laws as a means
of subduing them.

Dartmoor and Exmoor having been retained by the King
as a forest, it may be presumed they offered a field for sport.
Imagine Devonshire without a fence, no hedges, no walls,
its rich pastures, cleared by the early settlers, surrounded by
dense primeval woods, not to be called Forests if the word
forest is to be used in its proper sense, reaching by the banks
of the rivers up to the high and open lands of the moors,
where such vegetation could not flourish. We can imagine
the chase of the red-deer by pre-historic man, with his
primitive bow, and flint arrow-heads, the deer stealthily
stalked, wounded, and followed up with the hunting craft
of the savage, pitting his brains, such as they then were,
against the instincts, strength, and fleetness of foot of the
monarch of the glen. We can also imagine, in the time of
John, the pageant of the hunt, the rousing of a deer, a stag
of ten, according to Scott ; I should say a hart of fifteen.
A stag is a five-year-old deer, a hart is a six-year-old or
full-aged deer, and ten points would not be a big head for
Devonshire, whatever it may be in Scotland. We can
imagine the rousing of a hart of fifteen in the dense coverts
on the banks of the Plym, a chase over Dartmoor to the
banks of the Dart, where the deer would soil, that is, take
to the water, "as the hart pants for the water-brook," and
there to blow the mort. There were curious Forest Laws in
those days, all for the sake of the deer. No dog was allowed
in the New Forest which could not go through King William
Kufus's stirrup. The stirrups of these degenerate days would
admit but a very small dog, the smallest of toy-terriers ;
but Kufus's stirrup was a large machine to hold his Majesty's
foot, and a short -legged spaniel could easily pass through.
Larger dogs were not allowed in the forest unless they were
lawed, or expedited, that is, three claws were cut off from
the fore -foot to prevent their following deer at any pace.
There were two sorts of dog commonly used in the chase
in those days, the greyhound or gaze-hound, famous for its
sight and swiftness ; and the bracket, a hound which hunts
by scent, then a lower class of hound, though now so highly
prized. There are still remnants of the old Forest Laws on
Dartmoor. The Venviile men claim a right to take anything
from the Moor that may do them good, except green oak

116 SPORT ON DARTMOOR.

and venison, which should properly be vert and venison,
vert in that sense meaning the food of the red-deer. The
Venville men also pay for night-rest. They were not allowed
on the Moor at night, on acccount of the deer, which they
might take at night, unbeknown to the Foresters ; but
when the deer became of less importance, they obtained
the privilege by paying a trifle by way of fine.

There is an old tradition of hunting the deer on Dartmoor,
by Childe, the hunter of Plymstock. He is said to have
been caught in a snowstorm when hunting a deer, lost his
way, killed his horse, and got inside him for warmth, where
he wrote his will on a piece of paper with the horse's blood.
The will gave all his lands to the person who first took his
body to holy-ground. This was supposed to have happened
near Nun's Cross, or Seward's Cross, and Fox Tor, which
being on the track of the Abbots' Way, the monks of Buck-
fastleigh and Tavistock — or Buckland and Tavistock, it does
not matter much which — found his body, and fought over it
for the privilege of carrying it to holy-ground, thus getting
his land. The Tavistock monks must have come off victors,
for the Duke of Bedford has lands in Plymstock to which
he succeeded when the lands of the monks of Tavistock
were handed over to his ancestor. Whatever the legend
may be worth, Nun's Cross stands exactly in the line a deer
would take if roused on the banks of the Plym, and he then
crossed to the Dart.

Within a hundred years from this time the red-deer was
common in Devonshire, and hunted on Dartmoor. There
are fine heads hung in some old halls, with a record of where
the deer was roused, and where he was killed, records of a
great chase for many miles. The wild red-deer from Exmoor
sometimes come down to us now, and they sometimes breed
in our woods.

It may be of interest to note that the deer of all wild
animals of the chase was the most important, and had the
most attention paid to him. He was a luxury to eat, as well
as a quarry to chase. He had his names for his six ages.

The Male Red-deer

was a Calf the first year,

„ Brocket the second year,

„ Spayad the third year (now a Pricket),

» Staggard the fourth year,

„ Stag the fifth year (when he may be hunted),
and a Hart the sixth year and afterwards.

SPORT ON DARTMOOR. 117

TJie Female Red-deer

was a Hind-calf the first year,

„ Brocket's sister the second year (which is curious), or a
Herst,
and a Hind the third year and the rest of her life.

The Fallow- deer, now a much more favourite animal for
the table, but seldom hunted except in the New Forest,
was a Fawn the first year,

„ Pricket the second year,

„ Sorel the third year,

„ Sore the fourth year,

„ Buck of the first head, the fifth year,
and a Buck, or a Great Buck, the sixth year and afterwards.

The Female
was called a Fawn the first year,

„ a Pricket's sister the second year,
and a Doe the third year and afterwards.

Shakespeare's plays are full of hunting terms — the hunting
of the deer, in his time, of course. In Loves Labour *s Lost we
have a humorous dispute about a fallow-deer killed by the
Princess :

"Sir Nathaniel. Truly, master Holofernes, the epithets are sweetly
Tailed, like a scholar at the least ; but, Sir, I assure ye, it was a buck of the
first head.

" Holofernes. Sir Nathaniel, hand credo.

" Dull. *T was not a haud credo, 't was a pricket.

11 Hoi. [Further on] I will something affect the letter, for it argues facility.
The pniiseful Princess picre'd and prick'd a pretty pleasing pricket ;
Some say, a sore ; but not a sore, till now made sore with shooting.
The dogs did yell ; put 1 to sore, then sorel jumps from thicket ;
Or pricket, sore, or else sorel ; the people fall a hooting.
If sore be sore, then L to sore makes fifty sores ; 0 sore L !
Of one sore I an hundred make, by adding but one more L. "

In the olden times, those who hunted the deer carried a
circular horn across the shoulders, in the well-known shape
of the French horn. In our present style of riding, especially
falling as we often do, it would be a very cumbersome affair.
The hunters in those days — horses are called hunters now —
had to sound the horn, according to rule, and when the deer
was seen the sound of the horn would tell in what direction
he was going. I found in Mr. Paul Treby's Diary, the volu-
minous diary of the well-known sportsman and verderer of
Dartmoor, of Goodamore, a printed list of the proper notes
to be sounded on the horn. Five open notes could be

118 SPOBT ON DARTMOOB.

sounded on the old horn, and here is a specimen of a
hunting call : NafMg of the ^^

tone ton tavern ton tavern ton ton tavern

— ^ 6 o o

A Recheat when the Hounds hunt a right ganw.

• • •• •■ •• * • ** • •• •• •• •• • • •

o — ooo.o.o.o.oo — o. oo. o.o.o

The old hunting cry, " Tantivy/' is most likely a corrup-
tion of the horn-note, " Ton-Tavern."

To sound such a recheat at the right time, a man must
be an experienced hunting-man, and to sound the wrong
note at the wrong time was to incur condign punishment
with the whip at the end of the chase.

The deer was mischievous to the crops of the farmer ; he
liked turnips, apples, and just the delicate tops of the oat-
ears, in addition to his own vert, or browsing on the young
leaves of trees. He was also troublesome to the eager hunts-
man. He would refuse to leave a big covert, and he was
wont to soil, that is, take to the rivers and abide in them.
It was also found by experience that a much smaller and,
till then, despised animal would show better sport. This
animal was the fox, the fox of JEsop's and other fables.

Fox-hunting is the great sport of the day, and fox-hunting
on Dartmoor is the sport of all others for which Dartmoor is
famous.

I hold some heterodox opinions about hunting. They may
be poor things in the way of opinions, but mine own. The deer
is a creature the nature of which is to be hunted by wolves,
man, and what not ; he has, therefore, acquired instincts to
serve him when he is hunted, such as taking notice of the
wind, foiling his scent, and so forth. On the other hand,
the fox is a hunter by nature, and is not hunted except by
man ; I, therefore, contend that he has no wiles to avoid or
deceive the hunter, knows nothing whatever about the wind,
and merely takes to his heels, which are fleet and clever, to
get away from the hounds. If he has heard hounds and
horn in his cub-days, he remembers them for ever after, and
puts his trust in his speed. He is a great wanderer, and
knows his country perfectly — the older he is, the more and
the better he knows it ; on the first alarm he will leave for
a distant home, and then comes the great run. Like the
deer, he can be found — he is found, not roused — in a dense
covert on one side of Dartmoor, crosses the Moor to the
other side, and few there be that can follow.

SPORT ON DARTMOOR. 119

I spoke of the pageantry of the hunting of the deer in the
olden days, when it was the sport of kings. Fox-hunting
is a showy affair now, with the red coat, top-boots, and
spurs ; the hunter, now the best horse bred for all purposes
except heavy harness work ; the pack of hounds, every
hound having been carefully bred for his shape, size, nose,
and even colour, for generations on generations ; and the
etiquette of the field. Foxes are found on the skirts of the
Moor, and give us a gallop across the best parts. Very
pretty they are, but not like the great run before referred to.
Foxes are also found in the bogs, having made their kennel
in a snug piece of heath, where quiet and silence reign
supreme, until the hounds come. They also will give us a
pretty gallop, back to their happy hunting-grounds in the
large coverts " in along/' as we say in Devonshire. These
runs are not the great runs, but they are good enough for
most people. The forward men are forward always ; five
per cent, of the field is a liberal allowance for such as they
are ; the rest follow on, see a great deal if they have an eye
for sport, and can tell you a great deal more afterwards than
anybody else. They can tell who was first and who was
last, who had a fall, whose horse stopped, and who was thrown
out, that is, lost the hounds, and went home a sadder if not
a wiser man.

In the case of a great run a deer will go thirty miles, and
I have known a fox go twenty-three and twenty-four miles.
In such a run both the man and the horse must have a good
heart. The pace is very great on Dartmoor — there are no
fences to stop hounds, and the ground carries a high scent.
Scent in hunting is a mystery, and as we have not the noses
of a hound, it will always be so to us. To ride down these
steep hills on Dartmoor, over the rocks and stones at a
good pace, requires a good heart in the rider, and to go up
these same hills at a good pace requires a good heart in the
horse. The whole chase demands great judgment on the
part "of the horseman, and an intimate knowledge of the
Moor, for the bogs are to be crossed somehow, and it is this
requisite knowledge of the Moor that unfortunately puts
the stranger, however good a man he may be, out of it No
hounds go faster, or so fast, as fox -hounds on Dartmoor,
except, perhaps, stag - hounds on Exmoor. To see a good
run on Dartmoor to the finish, both man and horse must
be of the very best, and there can be no better sport.

Yes, it may be said on the part of the fox, sport to you
is death to us, and it is cruel. It is so, but where would be

120 SPORT ON DARTMOOR.

the fox if it were not for fox-hunting ? He, a beautiful,
graceful, clever animal, the hero of many fables, would be
extinct, with the wild cat, martin, polecat, eagle, kite,
peregrine-falcon, and other fine creatures of Nature. He
would have been trapped and destroyed utterly. Now he
leads a charmed life, it is a sin to hurt him, and until the
fatal day comes he has found his heels protection enough.
We all have our fatal days, and when his comes, the fox has
a bad quarter of an hour. Up to that time he thinks his
heels will serve him as good a turn as they have before.
Which of us would not compromise with fate for a bad
quarter of an hour, when our time comes ?

There is also hare-hunting on Dartmoor.

The modern harrier is more of a small foxhound than
the hound described and drawn by Bewick, and modern
hare-hunting is a much faster affair than it used to be, say
in the days of Squire Western. Again referring to the
diary of Paul Treby, the Squire of Goodamoor, it appears
that most country gentlemen, about a hundred years ago,
kept their pack of harriers. There is a story told of Paul
Treby, that a friend of his said to him that a gentleman
was coming to live in the neighbourhood who would be a
man after his own heart, for he hunted five days a week.
The reply he got was, "What the deuce does he do with
himself the other day ! "

The sound ground on the outskirts of the Moor is very
favourable for hare - hunting, and there is plenty of it. I
am inclined to think the modern, fast hound is very advan-
tageous to the hare. The hare, as an animal hunted by
many enemies, in the natural course of things, might be
supposed to have developed instincts for her preservation.
Men talk of the craftiness of the hare, but an old hunting-
friend of mine said, " They talk of a hare's craft ; I say
she is a fool." The fact is she is very fleet of foot, and
trusts to her speed alone. Men give her credit for design,
when she has none, and so lose her.

Hare -hunting on Dartmoor has seen an extraordinary
development in late years. After hare -hunting in general
is over, and ought to be over, in the month of May, two
or three packs of harriers are taken to Princetown to hunt
every day for a week, in the heart of the Moor. On the
Friday of that week the meet is always at Beliver Tor, and
is the most wonderful sight, perhaps, in the annals of hunting.
Beliver Tor, which is a fine tor, surrounded with good ground,
is the scene on that occasion, each year, of a most extra-

SPORT ON DARTMOOR. 121

ordinary gathering of people from far and wide. People on
horseback, people on foot, people in every species of
carriage, from the four-in-hand to the village cart, all come
to picnic on the tor, with the champagne luncheon down
to the humble sandwich, and see the sport. It has become
a sort of fashion to go to this meet, therefore of course
everybody goes, to see one another if for nothing else.
Another curious fact is that a good number of hares appear
on the occasion, and one or two get killed, though the
chances in such a crowd are much in their favour.

Let me protest, in passing, against calling Beliver Tor by
the Cockney name of Belle Vue Tor. No one but a City
tourist would think of such an outrageous name for it
Beliver, whatever it may mean, is not Belle Vue.

The hunted hare is said to be tender, and a dainty morsel
I believe this to be a great delusion. Tender it is, but the
hare dies in a high fever, and to my mind the flesh has a
sickening taste. I have observed the same in trapped rabbits
and trapped pheasants, poor brutes that have been languish-
ing for hours, perhaps, in the cruel gin, in a state of hideous
fear. The taste of such flesh is to me offensive, and I warn
anyone against buying hares, rabbits, or pheasants with a
broken leg.

Sport on Dartmoor includes otter - hunting. The otter
frequents all our rivers, but is seldom seen by man, except
when hunted. The lonely fisherman may see him some-
times, but not often. He is hunted with the otter-hound
proper, or with the foxhound. The foxhound is the general
favourite, as well he may be. He is as perfect as a long
succession of men, who have devoted their time to breeding
him, could make him. He is a foxhound, but he is used
for stag-hunting, otter-hunting, and hare-hunting. The otter-
hound is a large, rough-coated, patient, babbling hound, with
a fine tongue, and handsome withaL The foxhound has an
unrivalled hose ; he is very quick and dashing, as becomes
him, and I question if many an otter does not owe his life
to the forward dash of the foxhound. Otter-hunting is a
fine sport on Dartmoor, especially on the Biver Dart. It is
a summer sport, and to go up stream with the otter-hounds
on the banks of a sparkling river, in a lovely valley, is in
itself a joy. It is not always easy to find an otter, and
many that may be on the river are not found when the
hounds are out, but when found the chase is lively. The
water carries the scent on the surface, and down stream a
hound may speak on it some way below where the otter

VOL. XXVII. K

122 SPORT ON DABTMOOB.

may be moving. To see a pack of hounds swim a pool,
every hound speaking, and the valley echoing their musical
tongues, is an exciting spectacle. The otter is supposed
to be killed because he himself, in his turn, kills the salmon.
I like otter-hunting very much, all except the death, which
I always deplore. But, after all, not very many are killed.

There has been, in times not long gone by, fulmart-hunting
on Dartmoor. The fulmart is the foul martin, the polecat,
or fitch ; alas ! extinct, or nearly so, on Dartmoor. A few
choice spirits, say about fifty years ago, used to take three
or four couple of foxhounds to Two Bridges, for fulmart-
hunting in the heart of the Moor. A friend has told me
that hunting the fulmart was the best sport of alL I do
not know why. The fulmart frequented the rivers, was
very destructive of all the smaller animals, and he was the
dread of the poultry - yard. One or two may be left on
Dartmoor, but gamekeepers and warreners are his deadly
enemies, and in England at all events he is practically
extinct.

Fishing is another sport, and a very favourite one, on
Dartmoor. Trout are plentiful, though small, on the lucid
Dartmoor streams, and salmon go up to their spawning beds
in goodly numbers. No other fish are found there. The
Dart may be said to be the best stream on Dartmoor for
both, and the artificial fly, the minnow, and natural baits
are used with rod and line. Very little, if any, net-fishing
is practised on Dartmoor, though now and then a skilful
man with a sport-net in a small stream may land a good
basketful

Finally, there is plenty of shooting on Dartmoor. The
Duchy of Cornwall issue licences at 10s. 6d. each, and if
the quantity of game on the Moor were divided by the
number of sportsmen the result would not be very promising
to each. But walking fifty miles with a gun and a dog or
two seems to be lure enough. There are duck, heath-poult,
snipe, a woodcock or a partridge now and then, and golden
plover, to be shot on Dartmoor. Snipe are the most common,
and heath-poult — the handsome black cock, and his beautiful
grey hen of a rich heather colour — are to be found at times
in number enough to repay one for a good hard day's walk.
But they soon get shot down, and the wonder is that there
are any left There is not much game on Dartmoor,
which, notwithstanding, is pretty well shot over from all
quarters. A good, far-ranging, staunch setter is the best dog
for Dartmoor ; a setter of a colour that can be seen at a long

SPORT ON DARTMOOR 123

distance, and will stay still and steady till you can get up
to him. With such a dog — and they are to be had — you can
bag half-a-dozen snipe, and some odds and ends, in a day.
A friend of mine gave me, on separate occasions, a quail
that he had shot on Dartmoor, and a stormy petrel.

So much for sport on Dartmoor. The air is fine and
stimulating, and the sport inspires enthusiasm, or as a sports-
man would say, makes one keen. I do not wish to convert
this learned Society into a " sporting lot," but as we devote
a great deal of our attention to Dartmoor, it may be well
to give a thought to its sports amongst its other attractions.

K 2

OKEHAMPTON CASTLE.

BT B. N. WORTH, F.O.8.
(Read at Okehampton, July, 1806.)

"There stands a castle/' are the words in which the
Domesday scribe first records on the pages of history the
existence of the fortalice of Baldwin the Sheriff, the chief
seat of his great Honour and Barony of Okehampton. And
what was true eight hundred years ago is true still
"There stands a castle" yet That in its earlier days this
was of much local importance, in its command of the country
to the immediate north and east of Dartmoor, follows of
necessity from its situation, but record is absolutely silent as
to its having ever played any leading part in the strifes and
wars of the Middle Ages. We have scant note of its builders,
and less than a dozen lines would tell all that has been
clearly handed down to us concerning it, from its first
mention in Domesday to the note of its dismantling in the
sixteenth century. When we have said that it passed from
the Redverses to the Courtenays, from the Gourtenays to the
Mohuns; and so, through Savilles and Vyvyans, to its present
owner, Mr. Eeddaway, we have really said about everything
that is really needful, or, indeed, possible. All that remains
to add is that, since it was a residence, it has never been in
more heedful hands than those of the gentleman to whom the
public are indebted alike for needful conservation and liberal
access, and I for the special courtesies which have made the
writing of this paper possible.

Okehampton Castle differs from the other ancient castles
of Devon in several noteworthy features. Most of the
Norman fortalices, whether in this county or in Cornwall,
have round shell keeps — as at Plympton and Totnes,
Bestormel and Launceston, may be seen to this day. The

OKEHAMPTON CASTLE. 125

typical Norman castles, with the true square keeps, were
fewer in number, but as a rule, of greater comparative
importance. Among them, that of Okehampton occupies
what may be regarded as a middle position. More important
than Lydford in its adjuncts, it must have been much
inferior to Exeter — Rougemont ; nor in its later phases can
it ever have compared with the other Courtenay hold at
Tiverton, as a residence with their present seat at Powder-
ham, or in extent and defensive power with the stronghold
of the Pomeroys at Berry. Nevertheless, in the early Middle
Ages, it must have been regarded as a place of no little
strength and dignity, when the Courtenays had completed
what the Sedverses begun.

Of some of the Norman castles, specially those with
the shell keeps, we may be pretty sure that they occupied
the site of Saxon strengths, which may, to some extent, have
dictated their plan. This was certainly so at Plympton and
Totnes and Launceston and Barnstaple. Okehampton,
however, seems to be purely of Norman origin. The site,
indeed, is one that might have been chosen by the Saxon ;
but in the West, at any rate, he would never have undertaken
the heavy work of cutting through the spur of the hill to
isolate the keep, on which its main strength depended. He
had already fortified his "tun" in the fork of the twin
rivers, and before that had erected his stockade on the
upland (Haktock), and a fortalice on the castle hill would
have been of no use to him for the safeguard of his local
interests. With the Norman, needing a centre of jurisdiction,
the case was different He had to keep in order, rather than

i defend. His protective ideas were in the main confined

I to himself.

It is not quite easy to say what the full plan of the
castle in its complete form may have been. The castle hill
is cut off from the spur of the high land, of which it forms
the eastern point, by a deep notch through the solid slate
rock on the west. It is steeply scarped to the north and
south (where the West Okement formed a moat) ; and is ap-
proached by a more gradual slope, still sharp, however, only

i from the east. On the crest of the hill thus isolated stand
the grim ruins of the keep, on a mound which may be partly
artificial in height, as it certainly is in form. Down the

| slope to the eastward, connected with the mound by curtain

I walls, are the remains of two ranges of buildings, north
and south, with a narrowing yard between them leading
to the main gateway. Beyond this gateway, further to

126 OKEHAMPTON CASTLE.

the eastward still, at the foot of the hill, and on the level
of the ancient river bank, are fragments of the outer gate
or barbican.

Now, while it is perfectly clear that the keep was
defensible in itself, and that the inner courtyard, with its
double set of buildings, and its curtain walls, formed with
the keep a complete fortalice, well protected by the escarp-
ment— no doubt stockaded — from any sudden attack, it is
by no means so clear that it would have held a garrison
or munitions capable of standing even a short siege. If,
however, the barbican gate, instead of being merely an
outwork for the main entrance, formed part of a still larger
external mural cincture enclosing the whole, there would
have been plenty of room to accommodate a fairly large
garrison in the wooden shelters which commonly formed
the abodes of the mediaeval rank and file. I am bound,
however, to say that I have been unable to satisfy myself
that such a complete line of exterior defence existed ; or that
the main building ever consisted of much more than one
sees, or can trace, of the keep and the two wings, of what I
should perhaps call, somewhat by courtesy, the base court.
The barbican was, of course, much more extensive than now
appears.

On the age of the castle, the structural indications are
distinct. The oldest part of the edifice is the keep ; the most
recent that portion of the southern block which contains the
remains of the chapel ; and they date architecturally from
the Norman to the Early English periods— or, say, from the
eleventh to nearly the close of the thirteenth centuries.
Domesday, of course, is clear that a castle of some kind had
been erected before 1086. William of Worcester, who
visited this "famous castle," as he calls it, in 1478, when it
was intact, records — no doubt on what he thought good
^r , authority — that it was built by " Thomas, the first Courtenay
k '„:;,.: ..-.;»// earl." This, however, was clearly not the case, equally on

the evidence of history and of structure, and I was once
inclined, therefore, to adopt the suggestion of Grose, that
Thomas simply carried out what may have been somewhat
extensive repairs and modifications, the main features of the
structure remaining as he found them. But it is far more
likely the fact that it was held by Thomas Courtenay at
William's visit, is responsible for his slip, and that he was
right in ascribing the main body of the fabric to the true
first Courtenay earl, Hugh, who succeeded in 1292, on the

OKEHAMPTON OA8TLE.
Sketch Ground Plan.

Sketch First Floor Plan.

EsM

OKBHAMPTON CASTLE. 129

death of Isabella de Fortibus — a date which fits in excellently
with the architectural character of the later edifice.

I at one time held that no part of Baldwin's work re-
mained, but I am now convinced not only that the lower
portion of the keep walls is essentially Norman, but Norman
that may well be of his time. Close inspection will show
that the northern wall is certainly the oldest part of the
structure, as it stands, and it will be noticed also that in this
wall, and some of the lower parts of the keep walls else-
where, the materials largely consist of water-worn stones
from the river-bed below, while the upper portions of the
walls (like the walls of the castle generally) are built of the
massive native slate. Evidently the original masons took
the materials they could get with the least trouble, and that
lay nearest to hand. These walls average near the base
something near seven feet in thickness, and are, therefore, of
great strength in proportion to the size of the structure.

The keep is rectangular in plan, with the longer axis
east and west, in two sections, now divided from each other
by gaps in the walls north and south. The eastern section,
moreover, is broader than the western, and may have been
an addition in some sort to the original building. In its final
form the keep consisted of two rooms below and two above,
entered by a low -pointed doorway in the north-eastern
corner, immediately within which, on the north, a flight of
stone steps in the wall led to the upper floor and to the roof,
The cavities for the sliding bar which fastened the outer door
still remain ; and both the arches of the external doorway
and the stair opening are intact, with the arch on the inner
side of the porch or passage in the thickness of the wall. A
doorway, lower, but of similar character, led from the outer
into the inner apartment on the ground floor ; and this latter
division I have been somewhat inclined to regard as the
original keep, on to which the outer section was first grafted
by Kedvers, and modified by Courtenay. But there is no
certain evidence.

This inner apartment is 26 feet by 16, and is lit on the
ground floor by three deeply-splayed windows, with small
openings, in the north, west, and south walls respectively,
the doorway being the only opening on the east The
northern window is round-headed, in rubble masonry with-
out dressings. The eastern and southern are semi-pointed,
and may have been altered, in rebuilding, from the northern
form; while the southern has been partially blocked out-
ward by granite dressings, so as to reduce it to a longitudinal

130 OKEHAMPTON CASTLE.

slit once containing iron bars. There are remains of similar
dressings in the northern.

Nine joists, supported by two transverse beams, carried the
floor of the upper room. Here there is another window in
the north wall, immediately over that below. The south wall
contains a fireplace and a large window, both with dressings.
The west wall another large window, and a rude lancet arch
in granite, giving entrance to a garderobe in the northern
corner. A roof corbel remains. There are a good many
patches of plastering.

The outer chamber is the larger of the two, 22 feet by 22,
on the ground floor; but the walls are so broken away on
each outer side, that is impossible to say more than that
it appears to have been lighted much after the same fashion
as the inner — certainly on the south — while there was
a window also on the east. Nor can we say whether it
contained a fireplace, like its neighbour, above. There are,
however, the remains of a second garderobe on the south,
wrought in the thickness of the wall ; and the drains to both
are complete. The upper apartments were somewhat bigger
than the lower, because the thickness of the middle wall was
reduced at the floor level. The defence must have been from
the roof, to which the newel stair gave access; and at the
head of the staircase there is just one fragment of the
battlements. In case of a siege before the rest of the castle
was built, or as a last place of refuge, the quarters of the
garrison must have been excessively inconvenient, and their
capacity for storage of provisions and munitions of war very
small.

The keep is, at present, approached from below by a
winding path, but a sketch of the castle, taken by T. H.
Williams, early in the century, seems to shew traces of a
sunken way, which would, of course, be provided with steps,
and in the absence of which, indeed, the access to the keep
would be exposed to the missiles of the assailants. Some
sort of protected access, in later days at any rate, there must
have been.

We have now to deal with the main buildings. These,
as has already been said, form two ranges, or blocks, on the
north and south of a long and narrow base court, triangular
in plan, in consequence of their convergence on the main
gateway at the eastern end. All these buildings are
essentially of one period and style, though I am not sure
that they follow one original design.

*■*-

OKEHAMPTON CASTLE. 131

The main feature of the northern range is the great hall,
with the solar, or lord's chamber, over the usual undercroft,
or cellar, at its upper (western) end. This is the only part
of the northern section of the castle that is substantially
intact. The hall was a fine apartment, 45 ft. in length by
25 in breadth; and was lit by two large windows in the
southern wall, to the west of which was the entrance, a
boldly-moulded granite doorway, 4 ft. 4£ in. in width. At
the lower end of the hall, in the south-eastern corner, a
doorway leads into what was a staircase -turret, lit by a
loop, which gave access to the roof. A few of the lower
steps remain, and some fragments of fallen masonry. It
was at this end, in halls of later date, that the kitchen and ^ f 1.,
buttery were approached ; but the hall is characteristically t '" '
twelfth century in plan, and there are no existing traces of v "■[ '■■/**■ ^c
offices of that, or any sort, in the space between the end fa '/ 't />
of the hall and the main gateway, the wall of which, on this
northern side, is much ruinated. These offices, therefore,
must either have been of small structural importance, or of
a mere temporary character. A doorway at the upper end
of the hall, in the south-western corner, leads on the level
into the cellar, 14 ft. by 25, lit on the south by a splayed
loop, and on the west by a loop and a window of larger
size. The northern wall is broken, and its indications
doubtful. This chamber was entered from outside by steps
through a doorway in the north-west corner, the dressings
of which still retain the tool marks.

Above the cellar are the remains of the lord's chamber, lit
by a window on the south, and containing a window, fire-
place, and garderobe on the west. The garderobe is formed
in a little projection from the main building, lit by a loop,
and has apparently been cut off from the chamber by a
structural screen of some kind, the broken chase of which
remains. It is not quite clear how the room was reached,
but the wall between it and the hall is so broken down, that
a stair might very well have been carried up from the dais in
connection with the space apparently screened off — a common
arrangement There are fragments of masonry in the north-
eastern corner of the cellar, which look like steps leading up
to the dais. If what they seem, there may have been a
wooden stair to the solar. Towards the centre of the hall
are what may be the remains of the hearth.

The hall and its adjuncts are separated from the building
to the west by a narrow passage, which has been regarded as
forming a kind of private approach. There are, however, no

r .

132 * OKEHAMPTON CASTLK.

traces of any gate — and it is evident that the passage owes
its origin to the fact that the hall is isolated. There must,
therefore, have been some means of defence here. In fact,
the absence of distinctive defensive works in this block
of the buildings, is very striking. And whether there was
ever an exterior cincture in connection with the barbican or
not ; it is quite evident that a wall must have continued from
the main gateway, round the hall to the keep mound, forming
a narrow, but no doubt effective, rampart. On the south, the
buildings themselves form the enclosure; and I think the need
of this special work on the north, helps the conclusion that
the hall was the earliest work of reconstruction. To the west
of this passage are the ruins of a square building, with no
noteworthy characteristics remaining, and from this the
remains of a curtain wall run to the mound of the keep.

The southern range is much more extensive and complete
than the northern, and includes several interesting features.
The eastern end and by far the greater portion of the
southern face are intact and picturesque; and it is quite
clear that when both sides of the gateway were standing,
this portion of the castle must have had a very bold and
dignified appearance. It will be convenient for the purposes
of description to deal with this range as two sections — the
eastern containing the guard and residential chambers, and
the western the chapel.

This eastern section consists of a two-storied block of
buildings, the upper floor of which is approached by a door-
way from the exterior, immediately north of the chapel ; the
rooms communicating with each other. To the ground
floor there are two entrances, and there was no internal
connection between the separate apartments thus approached
— the eastern, nearest the gate, were certainly the guard-
rooms ; the western may very well have been used, at any
rate occasionally, as a place of ward.

The guard-rooms consisted of two chambers, each about
17 feet in width, the one 30 ft. 6 in., and the other 21ft.
in length. The western of these has a garderobe, built out
in a square turret with similar accommodation for both
floors, and lit by a small arrow-slit on the eastern face. The
entrance to the garderobe is in the southern wall at the
western corner ; and to the east of this is a deeply splayed
pointed window, which ends in a rectangular loop. The
state of the northern wall prevents our ascertaining how the
room was lit on that side. The eastern or outer guard-room

O&EHAMPTON CASTLE. 133

is lit on the south by two squared-looped windows, pointed
within. A doorway in the north-eastern corner leads from
this room into a small chamber in the gate-tower, 9 ft. 9 in.
by 6 ft. 6 in., which formed the porter's lodge or look-out, a
loop window in the eastern wall commanding the approach.
Above this chamber there is one precisely similar in the
upper story (the floor, of course, is gone), and it is note-
worthy that this is the only part of the fabric that retains
its roof, which is supported by three massive stone ribs.
A deep recess in the southern wall continues from one
room into the other, and in its present form is somewhat
puzzling.

The western room of the ground floor section of this block
— 28 ft. by 17 ft. 3 in. — is entered, like the adjacent guard-
chambers, by a doorway in the northern wall, in the extreme
north-western corner. It is lit by two deeply splayed
windows of the usual small type, one in the south wall,
slightly pointed, and one in the north, the outer dressings of
which retain the holes in which iron bars were formerly set.
There is a garderobe forming part of the external turret
already noted, opening from the eastern end of the south
walL

The upper suite of rooms, as already explained, is entered
from the exterior by a doorway in the angle of the western
wall, which projects beyond the chapel, originally approached
by steps. So far as can be seen they correspond in size and
number with the rooms below, the doorways in the partitions
being next the southern wall, with the exception of the
doorway into the little chamber above the porter's lodge,
which is directly over that below.

The southern wall of the western chamber of this suite
contains in succession, going eastward, a window much larger
than the one below (following the castle rule), a fireplace, and
a garderobe entered like its companions by a lancet doorway
— the turret thus containing a set of four. The southern
wall of the second chamber contains in like succession a
garderobe, window, and fireplace, the chimney from which
is boldly corbelled on the exterior. The window had a
traceried head and a stone seat formed in the sill. The
northern wall of all three is mainly in a state of ruin.
These rooms were the principal residential part of the castle
in its latest form. It is quite possible that the small
chamber was an oratory or private chapel. What appears
to be a corbel from below has a drain, and may well have
been a piscina, though unusually placed.

134 OKEHAMPTON CASTLE.

At the western end of the group of chambers is what
p is commonly known as the chapel, but this is evidently

v a portion of a larger structure, which has, perhaps for the

most part, disappeared. The orientation is clearly dictated
by the lines of the main body of this section of the castle,
being N.E. and S.W. It is 14 feet in width by 20 in
length, and has a two-light window, with the remains of
traceried heads, in each side wall, and a very elegant trefoil
headed piscina in the southern wall, of good Early English
type, but rather late, corresponding with the fragments of
the window tracery. As the east wall of the chancel is
the west wall of the guard-room block there is no east
window. The position of the piscina shows that the floor
must have been considerably above the present level of
the ground. At the western end of the north chancel
wall are the remains of one side, with the springing, of what
was evidently another window, but beyond this, whether
to the north or south, there are only a few fallen masses
of masonry, of which nothing can be made.

On the south, however, the wall is continued at right
angles, transeptal fashion, to the remains of a small chamber
in a projecting square tower, which contains an arrow
slit It is not at all improbable — in fact, most likely — that
the residence of the priest, or chaplain, was here, but the
whole of this part of the fabric is too much ruined, broken
down, in fact, nearly to the foundations, to allow of any
very definite deductions. It does not seem, however, to
have been part of the chapel, which probably consisted
of little if anything more than the present chancel and area
connected with an extension westward. Several of the roof
corbels remain in the chapel, and the walls are battlemented.
At the western end of the chapel, and its adjacent tower,
there is a gap broken in the outer wall, which commences
again at the corner of a chamber that has almost wholly
disappeared, but still contains the remains of another
garderobe. There was a two-storied building here, continued
by the curtain wall to the keep mound, completing the
enclosure, but very little can be made of it beyond the fact
that there are two posterns — one in what appears to have
been the building, approached from within by a flight of
steps, and the other in the curtain wall. The former has
a kind of projecting penthouse hood on the exterior.

\ The dressings vary in material, from ordinary granite

to a fine working elvan, and a close reddish grit which

OKEHAMPTON CASTLE. 135

I learn comes from Hatherleigh, and which in some parts, as
elsewhere noted, retains the tool marks. This stone was
used for the tracery of the chancel windows, and the piscina
appears to be of kindred material Yet, in spite of its
excellent state of preservation, it is so free working that it is
easily cut with a knife, as the well-known inscription by one
of the French prisoners of war, interned at Okehampton early

in this century, testifies: "Hie V 1 fuit captivus belli,

1809." The early masonry is very massive and solid, and
much of the later shows very good work. The granite
dressings are the rudest, but this may quite as much be due
to the refractory character of the material, as to any note-
worthy want of skill on the part of the workmen, though it
is most probable that the different dressing materials are
indicative in the main of different periods of operation.

The general conclusions which I draw from the structural
character of the remains, with such slight aid as history
affords, may be summed up very shortly. Baldwin the
Sheriff, in the first place isolated and scarped the castle
mound, and reared thereon a square keep, of which the base
of the western section of the present keep is essentially part,
the northern wall shewing some of his work practically
intact. Somewhat later, but still in Norman times, the
eastern section of the keep was added. We have no clear
trace of what other buildings there may then have been
on the slopes below, now occupied by the main body of
the castle, and possibly they were neither very extensive
nor permanent in character. Be that as it may, they have
all disappeared. There must, however, have come a time
during the continuance of the Bedvers lordship, when the
need of better residential accommodation than the keep
afforded must have been urgent ; and to that period, it seems
to me, belong, at least in inception and origin, the northern
range of buildings, especially the hall and its adjuncts, which
carry out, as I have said, precisely the customary twelfth-
century plan of such structures. Of course, there must also
have been other buildings completing the enclosure on the
south, but of their character we have less direct evidence.
Finally, in the early days of the Courtenay regime — per-
haps commencing with Isabella de Fortibus, Bess of
Hardwick is not the only great lady builder — towards the ^_--

end of the thirteenth century, this northern block wa3 >'*/'■,£**
rebuilt, with its elegant chapel, and a suite of residential
apartments for the lord and his family, which in these days

136 OKEHAMPTON CASTLE.

would have been regarded as "exceeding magnifical," while
the whole of the elder buildings that were retained, the keep
included, were reconstructed, and brought into harmony with
the new work. There were, of course, minor stages and
subsequent changes, but these seem to me the main features
in the structural history of the Castle of Okehampton. It
may be that the judicious clearing out of the soil and
rubbish, which has in the course of centuries accumulated
to a considerable extent in some of the chambers, would
throw further light upon many interesting details, but I do
not think it would add materially to our knowledge of the
main facts.

N'B TOWER."

I ORIGINAL WALL OF CASTLE.

EECENT REPAIRS TO THE CASTLE AT EXETER.

BT 8IB J. B. PHBAR, M.A., F.G.8.
(Read at Okehampton, July, 1895^

The ancient walls of the Castle at Exeter have, on two
recent occasions, formed the subject of short notices, which
have found place in the Transactions of this Association.

The first of these notices (read at Tiverton, July, 1891)
stated the circumstances under which considerable repairs
had been carried out in the spring of 1891, with the object
of rendering the southern wall of the Castle-yard secure,
and also described the discovery made, in the course of that
work, of human skeletons beneath the floor of the Castle-
keeper's Lodge.

The second (read at Plymouth in the following year)
continued, virtually, the same story somewhat farther. The
rebuilt portion of the wall had, in the interval, suddenly
collapsed, giving way at the foundation, and carrying with
it, at each extremity, additional portions of the inner face
of the ancient wall. The work of repair had to be recom-
menced on a larger scale than before ; and in the course of
the excavations, incidental to making the requisite founda-
tions for this purpose, and in also clearing the ground for
a new lodge, some more skeletons were discovered, as well as
a few Roman coins, small fragments of armour, and other
articles of interest, which seemed to deserve mention in the
pages of the Association's Transactions.

The purpose of the present paper is to record briefly
certain other repairs, which have since been done to two
other entirely distinct portions of the Castle walls, one on
the south, and the other on the north side of the Castle-yard ;
and to draw attention to some points of interest disclosed
in the course of the work.

voi* XXVIL l

138 RECENT REPAIRS TO THE CASTLE AT EXETER.

It should be mentioned that the existing remains of the
Castle, consist of massive ancient walls, which, roughly
speaking, face respectively north and south, east and west,
and enclose a quadrangular space of approximately 300 feet
square. The present entrance to this quadrangle, or court,
now the Castle-yard, is by a roadway, which has been made
in comparatively modern times, through the southern wall,
a little to the west of its middle point ; and just adjoining
that, to the west again, is still standing the old gate-
tower, sometimes called the Barbican, which, approached
by a drawbridge over the outside ditch, constituted the main
entrance to the fortress in Plantftgenet days. It is now a
mere shell, but it retains its full height, or nearly so; and
covered with ivy, as it was until lately, to its very top, it
has long formed a widely-known and interesting feature in
picturesque Exeter.

A few months ago several successive falls of large pieces
of stone, from the upper portions of the tower, served as
a warning to indicate that the structure was in a very
dangerous state, and on careful examination it was dis-
covered that unless measures were promptly taken to secure
the building, it was almost certain that the tower would ere
long suddenly collapse and fall in ruins.

The work of reparation was at once entrusted, by the
County Authority, to the able and experienced hands of
Mr. Harbottle, the County Surveyor, and the measures
which he found it necessary to take, and which extended
in time over a period of many months, are thus concisely
described by him :

" The tower was found to be in a most dilapidated condition.
The Norman work was so damaged and fractured by the growth
of ivy roots and young trees, that it was with great difficulty
much of the walling could be preserved. By careful under-
pinning, and by replacing some of the quoins, which in many
places were the only tie to the structure, it has been made secure.
The mortar, with which it is built, more resembles earth than
anything else, and in the middle of the walls ivy roots were found
grown to a thickness of three inches.'1

There are several particulars of interest apparent in this
old gate- tower,1 which are doubtless known to many members
of this Association, but which perhaps may, without impro-
priety, be shortly indicated here. Although placed to serve

1 The great gate-tower is l>y local tradition utill known as Athelstan'H
Tower. And Bishop Grandisson, according to Dr. Oliver {Hid. of Ext:te.rt

RECENT REPAIRS TO THE CASTLE AT EXETER. 139

the purpose of a barbican, the form and structure of the
work is rather that of a Norman keep. It is square in
ground-plan, with its side-walls projecting beyond the gate-
way, in the manner of buttresses, towards the ditch. The
ground -floor of the Tower was simply roadway, opening
outwards to the drawbridge and inwards to the Castle-yard,
by two semicircular Norman archways. In addition to
these archways, north and south, there is, in the eastern
side-wall, a small opening, or doorway, with a pointed
heading, which, seemingly, gave access to the ditch. Above
this ground-floor of the Tower there were, in keep-fashion,
three or four stories, as shown by openings in the walls, to
admit the ends of floor-joists ; but no trace of any per-
manent staircase can be detected. Probably step-ladders,
similar to those which are commonly used as the means of
communication from deck to deck on board ship, here took
the place of masonry staircases.

Of the two above-mentioned archways of this gate-tower,
the outermost is now filled up with masonry — the materials
for the purpose having evidently been taken from other
parts of the old buildings. This blocking up was, doubtless,
done at some time when, the Castle having become useless
as a fortification, and more or less ruinous, the more con-
venient modern entrance roadway was made by filling up
the ditch, and cutting through the Castle wall on one side

p. 179), observes in a letter addressed by him to King Edward III. (Beg.
vol. L fol. 286) :

"Si len regarde Men les cronicles, len trouvera que le Roy Adelstou fist
enclore la Vyile D'Excestre et fist le chastel."

One of the chronicles referred to is probably that of William of Malmes-
bnry (cite. 1142), a passage of which (quoted by Freeman in his History
of ExtUr, p. 25, note) runs thus :

"Urbem illam quam contaminate gentis repurgio defecaverat, turribus
munivit, muro ex quadratis lapidibus cinxit."

It may well be that in this case tradition is to be trusted. Athelstan's
work must have been completed less than 150 years before the Conquest ;
and it must have been Anglo-Saxon in character, because, although Athelstan
was closely connected by marriage both with France and the Empire, the
Danish settlement of Normandy was only just then assuming permanent
shape, and could hardly have developed a style of architecture. Now, the
pair of triangular-headed windows, the long-and-short work at the corners,
and the absence of masonry stairs in the existing building, certainly point
to an Anglo-Saxon origin, even if the equally unmistakable Norman arch-
ways ana flat side buttresses suggest a period of transition, or of subsequent
conversion.

At any rate, it would seem that this old record in stone, left us by our
ancestors, has not yet received all the attention it deserves ; and is likely to
repay further consideration.

I. 2

140 RECENT REPAIRS TO THE CASTLE AT EXETER.

of the Tower, in substitution for the old road over the draw-
bridge and through the Tower itself.

The accompanying drawings show the plan of the Tower
in horizontal and vertical section ; and the larger photograph
gives the outside view of the Tower from Castle Street. Mr.
Harbottle, describing the details of its two archways, writes :

" The outer one is a massive Norman archway of two orders ;
the inner order is carried on an attached shaft, with moulded base
and cap. The moulding of the cap is carried across the front face
of the impost, which carries the other arch.

" The archway itself is filled in with rubble masonry, in which
there are two lancet windows.

" On the archway there are two openings with Norman-moulded
imposts, on which stand two triangular arches.

" The entrance to the Tower from the Castle-yard is through a
Norman archway, similar in detail to that just described."

The foregoing constitutes the first item of reparation to
which this paper relates. The other was a much slighter
affair, though hardly less interesting in its disclosures.

In preparing the foundations for an extension of the
County buildings, which stand within the Castle quadrangle,
adjacent to its northern side, and in making certain incidental
alterations of the ground, it became necessary to remove a
considerable amount of soil lying banked against the foot
of the northern wall, and to clear the wall of some vegetation.
Mr. Harbottle states the resulting appearances as follows :

"The old wall on the north side of the Castle-yard is cased
with comparatively modern stone rubble, and in stripping off the
ivy, and removing some of the loose stones, it was found that
behind the rubble work was the original wall, constructed of
herring-bone stone-work of the hardest and soundest description,
very differently built from the walls in the southerly side of the
yard, portions of which fell a few year* ago.2

" On the inside of the northerly wall there are the remains of
the foundation of what appears to have been a round tower. It
measures about fifteen feet in diameter. Photographs have been
taken of it."

In another memorandum, with a plan attached, Mr.
Harbottle gives the following further details :

"The foundations of what appears to have been a round tower,
are built on an artificial deposit of earth and rubble-stone. They
are about the same depth as the Castle wall, and are of common
rubble masonry. There are two holes in the wall near the bottom,
which appear to' have been used as a support for a cross beam. The

• In 1891.

GROUND PLAN OF TOWER.

RECENT REPAIRS TO THE CASTLE AT EXETEK. 143

inner face of the wall is fair stone-work, but the outer face appears
to have been built against the earth, as the ends of the stone are
irregular. There is no indication of paving inside, nor any
openings in the walls, except the holes for bearings. The founda-
tion walls were covered over with earth ; and a modern (or rather
indications of a modern) arch was, no doubt, built over them ; as,
I believe, a cottage stood on the site, where these foundation walls
were discovered."

These last-mentioned circular foundations have been left
exposed, but are protected by an iron railing. Norden's
plan of the Castle, purporting to have been made in 1617,
shows such a round tower, as this might have been, nearly
at the middle point of the southern wall on its outside,
but does not indicate anything of the kind, either inside or
outside, throughout the length of the northern wall. Nor
do either of the other maps referred to in the paper of 1891.
And it is not easy to see what purpose a tower so placed
within the wall could answer.

The strong contrast which Mr. Harbottle draws between
the solidity and character of the northern wall, and the
conspicuous weakness of structure in the southern, seems
to gain significance, when it is remembered that the northern
and eastern walls of the Castle are essentially portions of
the old City walls, while the southern and western are
defences thrown up inside in such manner as to practically
convert the highest angle of the City into a square redoubt.

MANORS IN BRATTON CLOVELLY.

BT REV. T. W. WHALE, M.A.
(Read at Okehampton, July, 1805.)

We learn from Domesday (Association Edition, p. 382) that
Bratona or Bratone belonged to Baldwin the Sheriff.
Brictric held it before him. It contained 15 plough lands,
and there were in it two thanes holding half a virgate of
land freely.

Reference is made to a successor of one of these thanes
in the Hundred Roll for Lifton.

Another Bratona or Brotone (now Bratton Fleming, p. 333)
belonged to Earl Robert. Ordulf held it before him, and
Erchenbold of the Earl.

The Manor of Botintone (p. 107) belonged to Bishop
Osbern, and he had common pasture at Bratone. Mr.
Worth thinks this manor of Botintone is Benton in Bratton
Fleming. It was an appendage of Braunton and afterwards
of Hauston (Lysons).

The hundred men (p. 457) declared that the manor of
Blackewille belonged to the above manor of Bractone. This
is Blakewell, Marwood.

There is also a Bratton or Bractone in Minehead, where
(Kirby's Quest for Somerset) Robert de Bractone held one fee
of John de Mohun, and he of the king ; and it is remarkable
that John de Mohun held also fees in Bratton Claville, as
will be referred to below. Pole (p. 27) tells us that lands in
Devon were held of the honor of Dunden and Dunster in
Somersetshire.

It is highly probable that Sir Hen. de Bracton sprang from
Bratton Clovelly, for, in addition to the name, the Church is
dedicated to St. Mary, and St. Mary's Altar or Bratton's
Altar is found in Exeter Cathedral; but I am inclined to

MANORS IN BRATTON CLOVELLY. 145

think that there were two of the name, and that the great
Lawyer was not the same as the Chancellor of the
Cathedral.

We can find no further mention of the Manor of Bratton
till we come to Sir Hamlyn D'Eudon, and we pause to see
what changes occur in respect of his name. Sir William
Pole (p. 275) calls him Sir Hamlyn de Deandon, but p. 49
we read "Baldwin Mallet of Deandon Knight, by Mabil
daughter and heire of Hamelin Deadon," and p. 46 "Hamelin
Deaudon of Deaudon KV He was one of the Knights
of the 1240 Survey of the Moor. Lysons always write
u Deaudon of Deaudon," and say, p. 537, " Deaudon in the
parish of Withecombe in the Moors passed to the Malets."
In 1748 Bawlin Mallock, Esq., purchased the royalty of
Dutton (no doubt corrupted from Deudon) Malet, and
Dunston in this parish. He tells us that Eoger Mallock
bought Cockington in 1654, so that Dutton can hardly be an
appendage of Cockington. In Somerset fines (36 Hen. III.,
p. 153) he is called Hamelin de Doudon ; but in Testa Nevill
(p. 110) Hamel Dy-an-dune.

Sir Baldwin Mallet and Letitia his wife granted (14 Bich.
II.) lands in Deandon ; but (9 Hen. IV.) we have in a deed
(Lansdown MSS. Brit. Museum, No. 255), " Know ye that I
have confirmed the Mannors of Enemer and Dutton to Sir
Baldwine Mallett and Amisia his wife."

Bisdon calls him Deandon.

Wm de Deandon =

lirH

Sir Hamlyn de Deandon=Lucelina

Joan = Sir Roger
ClaviTl
(ob. 1280) Mabil -Sir Baldwyn Malet

of Enemer (near Taunton).

I I

Sir Jno Malet Wm Malet=

Lucy Malet =■ 1st Simon de Meriet = 2^* Thos de Tymmeworth

(ob. circa 1325) I of Hestercombe

ob. 1296.

I I I

Walter Meriet Richard Hawisia-=Jno de Berkeley

s.p. 1313 ob. 1317.

(Pole, p. 275 ; and Somerset Archl. Records, vol. xxviii. p 178.
Widecombe in the Moor.)

146 MANORS IN BRATTON CLOVELLY.

In Inq. post m. we read :

35 Ed. III. 122. "Henry Duke of Lancaster held Deandon
— Devon.

16 Ed. I. 18. " Joh'es Malet Deandon manr ex*.

19 Ed. II., p. 331. " Wm s. Wm Martyne, Dendon, \ fee,
which therefore was most likely held of the Barony of
Barnstaple.

42 Ed. III. 40. " Jno f. JB0 Meriet consang. et heres Joh'es
de Beauchamp de Somerset pro predicto Joh'e et Joh'a uxore
ejus — Dendone maner* rem1 eidem Joh'i — Somerset."

Deandon seems to be a mistake for Deaudon, and the
name to be D'eau-don, derived from the river Weddiburn.
He had two daughters — Joan, married to Sir Roger Clavill,
whence probably comes Bratton Clavill — I suppose owners'
names were added to manors about this time, and it will be
seen below that afterwards Bratton was called Bratton-francis
for a like reason — and Mabil, married to Sir Baldwyn Malet
Joan and Mabil, with their husbands, entered into a covenant
(Lansdown MSS.) as to the lands which belonged to Hamelin
Deaudon, their father; and, I take it, Hamelin Deaudon,
Walter de Bathon, and Richard le Bret were trustees for
Joan and Mabil.

The name Eudon occurs in Rot Han. for the counties of
Salop and Huntingdon — " Eudon, Auger de," p. 81 ; " Eudon,
Kad.fil,"p. 677.

Mabil (had ?) granted the manor of Bratton in her widow-
hood (Inq. 9 Ed. I., 1280) to Thomas de Tynworth, Lucia,
his wife, and Richard, their son.

Pole tells us that Tho8 de Tymmworth held the manor
(ob. 1296), and that Lucie, his widow, who married 2dl* Sir
Simon de Meriet, held it. 30 Ed. I. (1301.) Walter de*
Meriet, their son (Oct. of St. Martin, 5 Ed. II., 1311, Finalis
Concordia, 53, Somerset) conveyed it to Simon le Sauvage,
junr., in trust for (1) Lucy de Meriet for her life; (2)
Hawisia, her daughter;1 and Hawisia dying without issue,
the manor fell again to Walter de Meriet. He was Chancellor
of Exeter in 1322, and afterwards Prebendary of Wells. (See
18 Ed. III., Finalis Concordia, 177.)

He died {Inq. p. m. 7 June 19, Ed. III., 55) having no
lands in Devon, but possessed of Widecombe, EUworthy,

1 Hawisia de Berkly held the manor 8 Ed. II. ; her husband died in 1317.
— Pole.

Jno dc Berkeley held the manor of Bratton cum Borsleigh (Hund. of
Lifton). {Somerset Arch. Records, 1316.)

14 Ed. II., 24— Jno de Berkeleye of Erlyngham.— Somerset.

MANORS IN BRATTON CLOVELLY. 147

and Plash in Somerset, so he must have parted with Bratton.
Pole tells us that 19 Ed. III., 1345 (t.e. at the death of
Simon de Meriet), Tho8 de Somerton held Bratton, Bratton
St. Mary (no doubt the advowson), Combe, and Gondescott.
Also Tho8 his son, and Rob* de Somerton after him.

The manor rolls show a change of owner to a lady in 1408,
and refer to court expenses of Bd Mille and others. And
again to another lady in 1416.

The rolls for 1437 refer to court expenses of Henry
Fraunceys, and show change of owner to another lady.
From Inq. p. m. 35 Hen. VI., 12, 1456, we find that Henry
Franceis owned the manor "ut de feodo de Tho8 Comite
Devon."

The Inq. 21 Ed. IV., 20, on the death of his son Nicholas,
shows that then Bratton was alienated.

Westcote, p. 46 : " Franceis of Combe Flory ; and Franceis
Court in the parish of Broad Clyst.

Wm Franceis = Alice d. & h. of Nicholas de Ilele and Alice

his wife d. & h. of Flory.

Hen? Francis =
ob. 1456

Nicholas

b. 1435.

ob. 1480.

" 7 Ed. IV., 49, 1466 : Robert Kyrkham was seized of the
manors of Trusselton, Manaton, and Bratton/'

I take it this refers to Bratton Clovelly; all the more
probable from its being near to Trusselton. And the name
Eobert Kirkham occurs often in the Manor Bolls, in 1416,
1432, and 1437.

In 1566 comes a deed, in my possession, of the division of
the manor of Bratton Clovelly between Richard Langford
and Richard Pengelly. In it reference is made to leases
granted by John Pengelly, his father, or by William Francis,
Esq.

I append the parts assigned to each by arbitration :

Tenant.

To Rd Langf d Meyndey Christ* Drewe.

Myltowne Wm Ellacott.

1 Bratton towne ten1 Rd Langford.

SmythehowBe,andNorishe'spece Tho8 Marshall.

Griest Myll Rd Langford.
Volysdon Woode (pl)
Birche Wood (p*)

148 MANORS IN BRATTON CLOVELLY.

Tenant.
To Rd PeDgelly Caylhowse Jno Gascoyn.

Volly8don Jno Pengelly.

Voliadon Wood (pl)

1 Bratton town ten1 Rd Pengelly.

1 „ „ Tho- White.

Shereston Moore Chn Drewe.

(Chester Moor now)

Melihebery Mede Chn Drewe.

(Mashworthy, or Maahery Mead now)

Jno Toll.

Birche Wood (p*)

On 25th April, 35 Elizabeth, 1593, another deed, in which
Richard Pengelly, son and heir of Richard Pengelly, late of
Bratton towne, releases his right in a fourth part of the
manor of Bratton Clovelly, alias Bratton-fraunceis, to
William Langyfford, which Richard LangifTord, father of
William, had recently purchased of John Pengelly de
Vulsdon.

Another deed is dated 20th Nov., 12 Jas. I., 1614, in
which Richard Pengelly, of Bratton Clovelly, sells for £340
to Moyses Laugefford his part of the manor of Bratton
Clavelly, otherwyse Bratton Frauncis, and which included
Brattontown, Voulsdon, Calehouse, Sherestone Moore, and
Melihebery Meadow.

In 1690 there is a Finalis Concordia between Walter
Langforde de Petertavy and Thomas Hierne, quer8 ; William
Langforde and Elizabeth his wife, deforc8; in regard to
Swaddledown, Bratton Mille, Culme Pitte, Bratton Church
Towne, and Voulsdon.

1684, Manor Rolls: "Wm Langford and Tho8 Corindon
lords of the manor."

(Tuckctt Rd Langesford^ Margery <1. Hillsworthy.
p. 8) of Bratton

Wm Langesford=Thomazine d. Hen* Bidlake.

i i

Moses Langesford Dorothy = Tho5 Corindon,

born 1576=Marg* d. 1662, of Braton.

(of Swaddledowne)
in 1646

Rd faverner.
(S* Teath)

„ I I I I I I

Tavcrner Hen* Thos Grace Sibell John.

b. 1609 b. 1610

(of S« Tfcth)

in 1646.

MANORS IN BRATtON CLOVELLY. 149

The Manor of Godescote (Dev. Dames, p. 391) was appended
to Bratton, as the Manor Rolls clearly show. It included Yeo,
Estelake, Combe, Nywelhani, Stoddon, Dountone, Yeoldone,
Trendelbeare, Beggestone, which are in that part of Bratton
cut off by Thrushelton, and the tenants appear to have been
all freeholders. Bristric held it, then Baldwin, and Goluin
of him.

1 Hen. VI. 63. " Hugh Courtenay, who died temp. Hen.
IV., held Wyke Langforde in baron* de Combe, et Godescote."

Wyke Langforde is the same as German's Week, and
probably " in baron' " should be written ' cum barton.' "

We must be careful not to confuse it with "Godescot"
(9 Bich. II. 55) in the parish of Huntshaw, which is called
Godwnescoth in Testa Nevill, p. 177. They were both written
later on " Guscott." Bishop Stafford's Register tells us there
was a chapel of St. Margaret at Godescote, now Guscot by
Eastlaka

7 Ed. I. " Jno de Mohun held fees in Braicton Clavill."

14 Ed. I. 33. "He held Bracton, Northcumb (Southcumb
in Germansweek)."

20 Ed. I. 38. " Hugh de Curtenay (no doubt in chief)
held Bracton lacerat'."

4 Ed. III. 35. "Jno de Mohun held a fee in Bratton
Clavile."

Bosleia or Boslie (Dev. Domes., p. 382) was another manor
in the parish held also by Brictric and Baldwin. Eoffus held
this of Baldwin.

15 Ed. I. 10. " Wm Talbot (who held also Sourton and
Thrusselton), Boreslegh ex1."

8 Ed. II. 56. " Patricius de Cadurcis, Boresle, 1 fee."
So also 8 Ed. II.

36 Ed. III. 37. " Matilda, wife of Wm Duke of Bavaria,
one of the daughters and heir of Henry Duke of Lancaster,
held Boreleghe."

Placita coram rege, 1316. " JD0 de Berkeley held Bratton
cum Boraleigh."

Bishop Stafford tells us there was a chapel of St. James at
Boresleigh.

17 Hen. VI. 51. " Alianora Talbot. Boreslegh manr ex1 ut
de cast. Okhamp."

There is a licence from Ed. III. 9 (Patent Bolls) to Prior of
Plympton to grant to John de Grandisson, Bishop of Exeter,
the Advowson of Bratton. Three years later we fiud a licence
to the Bishop of Exeter to grant it to the Dean and Chapter.
In 1351, a licence of mortmain to the Bishop to grant to

150

MANORS IN BRATTON CLOVELLY.

Brattone

census 10d

Brattone
finis 12d

mie 28 7d

mie 5d

rem

Officia

the College of St. Mary Ottery the advowsons of Bratton,
Bridestowe, and Plympton.

I now write out a copy of the Manor Bolls for Bratton,

for Richard II. :

[Thurs._l Oct. 1377.]

Curia legalis tenta ibidem die Iovis proxima post festum
Sancti Michaelis anno Regni Regis Ricardi, primo.

Census extenditur hoc anno, ut patet

Decennarius ibidem presentat quasdam defaltas Nicholai
Kerham qui sectam debet ad hunc diem, ideo ipse in
misericordia, postea fecit finem.

Item presentat quod Willelmus ** Lobet, Baldewinus ***
Clerke, Ricardus 12d Valeys, et Willelmus 12d Lobet,
communi tappa vendiderunt cervisiam contra assisam,
ideo ipei in misericordia, Item predicti Willelmus **
Baldewinus ld et Ricardus 2d vendiderunt cerviaiam
per falsam mensuram, ideo ipsi in misericordia.

Item presentat quod 2 pullani provenerunt ut catalla
Wayfiata precii 12d et remanent in custodia propositi.

Item eligunt ad officium prepositure, et Willelmum
Lobet Decennarium, qui juravit et remanet Item
Henricum Yysake ad officium propositi hoc anno
desinendos domino. Item Willelmus Chaddere qui
remanet et juravit.

Decennarius presentat quod Blytha atte yeo levavit
hutesium juste super Reginaldum 7d Hethman ideo
ipse in misericordia ex officio. Et predictus Reginaldus
in misericordia pro transgressione facta Blythe Yeo
et distringatur.

Item presentat quod predictus Reginaldus percussit

in misericordia quia non fecit execucionem

Blytham atte Yeo cum 1 baculo contra pacem ideo
ipse in misericordia ex officio ad dampnum suum 3s
unde execucio.

Item presentat quod Johannes Cole levavit hutesium
injuste super Willelmum Bokeput ideo ipse in
misericordia ex officio.

Et predictus Johannes Cole in misericordia quia non
prosequitur versus eundum Willelmum in placito
transgres8ioni8.

Item Johanna Payn cepit de domino unum cotagium
ad voluntatem, illam cotagium quam (etc. M.S.)
Ricardus Valeys pretermit per redditus et servicia
inde debita et consueta. Et fecit domino fidelitatem
et dat de recognicione ut patet.

Godyscote
mie9d

mia 6d
exc

quia non
potest
levari

recogn
2d

• Manors in bratton clovelly. 151

mia 6d Henricus Fenemur in misericordia quia prostravit

boscum domini apud Foelesdone sine licencia ideo
ipse in misericordia.

mia 3d Eicardus Taylour in misericordia pro transgressione

facta Thome Estelake in avenis cam averiis suis,
et distringatur pro emenda.

mia pro def C . . .
att Idem Eicardus queritur de Willelmo Bortone de placito

debiti. Summonitus non venit, ideo attachietur.

tnie 18d Eobertus ** Colyn, Willelmus w Uppecote, Eicardus **

Grymyscote, Johannes ** Symftne, in misericordia
quia ceperunt excessum salarii contra formam statuti.

mia 2d Johannes Fochedone in misericordia quia non levavit

13" 4d ad opus Alicie Hethman unde execucio.

mia 6d Eogerus Bredde in misericordia eo quod cepit unum

vitulum Johannis Skedemur contra voluntatem et
distringatur.

Inq Eicardus Taylour ponit se inquisicioni versus Thomam

Estelake quod non inparcavit averia sua ad dampnum
suum 10" per plegium Eoberti Payn et Galfridi Payn.

mia 2d Idem Thomas in misericordia pro transgressione facta

Eicardo Taylour in avenis cum averiis et distringatur.

mia 6d Idem Eicardus in misericordia pro falsa querela versus

eundem Thomam in placito transgressionis.

in mia . . . lex quod injuste copit jumentum
rem Thomas Pacchecote esaonium querit de Eicardo Grymys-

suum nee ei vetitum per plegium Willelmi Bouedone
cote de placito transgressionis et remanet.
mia quia non prosequitur
rem Johannes Bate querit de Roberto Cole essonium de

placito transgressionis et remanet.

mia pro licencia
rem Galfridus Bremdone querit de Willelmo Lobet essonium

de placito debiti et remanet.

mia 3d Eobertus Colyn in misericordia pro transgressione facta

Eicardo Beamund, eo quod etc.

mie 2" 2d Ballivus presentat quod Walterus M Mansypdyche,

Walterus ** Eysdone. Walterus M Ayre, et Galfridus
** Payn fecerunt transgressionem cum averiis in
pastura domini super Schoerysdone.

Inq Eobertus Blakegrove et Blythe uxor ejus executores

mia quia non prosequitur
testamenti Willelmi Colyn versus Eobertum Payn et
Sarram uxorem suam, quod non detinuerunt eis unam
vaccam et 2 oves matrices nee etc. ad dampnum
suum 20s per plegium Johannis Skedemur et Henrici
Vyseke.

152 MANORS IN BRATTON CLOVKLLY.

prepoRitus in mia quia non fecit execu
mia 3d Johannes Whetter in misericordia pro detencione 12s 8d
ex versus Blytham atte Teo unde execucio.

mie 4d Galfridus 2d Payn et Willelmus 2d Bouedone in miseri-
dis cordia quia non starent nee contribuerent com

decennario et tota decenna de Brattorie ut compertum
est per totum homagium et distringantur.

mie 2d Duodecim jurat i dicunt quod via regia apud Hedysdone
dis forde est lutoea et profunda ad nocumentum patrie

quam decennarius de Brattone tenetur emendendam
ideo ipsi in misericordia et distringantur.

3s 4d 12 jurati dicunt quod Henricus Fenemur nuper pro-

positus cepit de tenura apud Fochedone ultra redditus
Domini 3s 4d unde oneretur. Item de tenura quon-
dam fuit Johannis de Brattone vocata Trylleland
ultra redditus Domini 2s 10d pro locacione 3 acrarum
terre.

inq. Robertas Blagrove et Blythe uxor ejus executores testa-

menti Willelmi Colyn ponunt eos. (sic.) Inquisicioni
versus Robertum Colyn quod non detinuerunt 2
boves precii 408 ex dono matris sue ad dampnum
208 per plegium Henrici Yysak et Johannis Skedemur.
Item quod non detinuerunt 1 vaccam precii 108 ad
dampnum 40d per plegium ut supra.

att Ricardus Grymyscote queritur de Henrico Cole qui 4

defaltas fecit de placito transgressionis. Et attachiatus
est per 1 jumentum Ideo melius distringatur.

mia ld Johannes Sy mound in misericordia pro defalta con-

vencionis.

o
condonacio Reginaldus Bredde dat domino de fine eo quod appro-

priavit unum vitulum Johannis Skedemur contra
pacem et contra voluntatem ejus ut compertum est
per inquisicionem.

Summa, 238 4d
Expense senescalli, 13d.

[1 Dec. 1377.]

Brattone Curia ibidem tenta die Martis in crastino Sancti Andree

anno regni Eegis Ricardi, primo.

mia 4d Propositus in misericordia quia non fecit execucionem

Reginaldo
de 38 ad opus Blythe atte Yeo de Rogero Ethman et
distringatur.

mia quia non prosequitur
rem Loquela remanet inter Thomam Estelake querentem,

et Ricardum Taylour ob defecto jurati quia non

MANOES IN BRATTON CLOVELLY. 153

imparcavit averia sua interius ad dampnum suum
10s per plegium Roberti Payn et Galfridi Payn, etc.

mia 3d Johannes Bate in misericordia quia non prosequitur

versus Robertum Cole in placito transgressionis.

mia 3d Willelmus Lobet in misericordia pro licencia concordandi

cum Galfrido Bremedone in placito debiti.

mia 3d Propositus in misericordia quia non fecit execucionem

de 128 8d de Johanne Whetter ad opus Blythe atte
Yeo, et distringatur.

mia 4d Robertus Payn et Sarra uxor ejus in misericordia quia

non prosequuntur versus Robertum Bremegrove et
Blytbam uxorem ejus, executores testamenti Willelmi
Colyn in placito detencionis 2 ovium matricum.

mia 3d Ricardus Grymescote in misericordia pro defalta versus

Thomam Pacchecote in placito transgressionis.
mia quia licenciara fregit
lex Ricardus Grymescote est ad legem versus Thomam

? quando
Paccheshull quia injuste cepit unum jumentum ideo
ei vetuit per plegium Willelmi Bouedone et propositi.

mia 6d Reginaldus Bredde in misericordia quia non venit ad

Inquisicionem quum exactus fuerit.

mia 2d Decennarius et tota decenna in misericordia quia non

emendaverunt viam regiam apud Hethdone forde que
est lutosa et profunda, et distringantur.

mia 3d Willelmus Boertene in misericordia pro defalta versus

Ricardum Taylour in placito debiti.

rem Dies datus est Ricardo Taylour querenti et Willelmo

mia pro licencia

Boertone de placito debiti, et remanet per preces
parcium.

Esson Robertus Blakegrove et Blytha uxor ejus executores

testamenti Willelmi Cole versus Robertum Colyn de
placito detencionis 2 bourn precii 40° unde Inquisicio.
Et remanet dicta Inquisicio per essonium dictorum
Roberti et Blythe ad nunc diem.

att Ricardus Grymyscote queritur de Henrico Cole qui

4 fecit defaltas in placito transgressionis et attachiatur
per unum jumentum, et non venit, ideo melius
attachietur contra proximam.

7d Johannes Fochedone nuper propositus in misericordia

mia dis quia non levavit 13s 4d ad opus Alicie Hethman de

bonis et catallis Willelmi Bortone et distringatur.

rem Dies datus est Ricardo Payard querenti et Blythe atte

Yeo de placito convencionis, et remanet
VOL. xxvn. M

154 MANORS IN BRATTON CLOVELLY.

lex Willelmus Bouedone est ad legem versus Walteram

Langeford querentem, quod non levavit 208 de bonis
et catallis Alicie Cadie, sine warencia per quod
predictus Walterus ... ad dampnum suum 10s, per
plegium Galfridi Payn et Johannis Skedemur.

non prosequitur
lex Robertas Valays est ad legem versus Ricardum Valays

quod nullos conventus ei fregit per ipsum factos de
ultima audiencia curie, nee attachiatur, per plegium
Roberti Payn et Henrici Vysake.

attachiatur per plegium
attachi- Galfridus Payn queritur de Rogero Langeworthy, non
amentum Willelmi Chaddere et propositi

attachiato de placito transgressionis, ideo attachietur.

mia 10d Ballivus presentat quod Galfridus ** Payn, Walterus

id Rysdone, Walterus 2d Manchypysdiche fecerunt
transgressionem in pastura domini, ideo ipsi in
misericordia, et distringantur.

finis 18d Galfridus Payn dat domino de fine pro pastura in

Schurstone usque ad festum Sancti Michaelis ut

P**6*- Summa, 4* 10d.

Expense senescalli, lld.

[Thurs. 6 May, 1378.] (C)

Brattone Curia legalis tenta ibidem die Jovis in festo Sancti

Johannis ante Portam Latinam anno Regni Regis

Ricardi — primo.

prep5 in mia quia non distrinxit

Godiscote Decennarius ibidem presentat quod Johannes Adecote

dis ingressus est in foedum domini apud Yeo, ut in foedo

suo. Ideo distringatur ad proximam ad ostendendum

quare, etc. Willelmus Bykelake pro eodem,

mia 28 Item presentat [quod] Ricardus M Payard 1, Rogerus

M Hethman 1, Willelmus M Bykelake 1, tappa et
brasiaverunt et fregerunt assisam cervisie, ideo ipsi
in misericordia. Et predicti Ricardus, 2d Rogerus, 2d
et Willelmus 2d vendiderunt cervisiam per falsam
mensuram et per discos ciphis in singulis, ideo ipsi in
misericordia.

extraura Propositus presentat quod unus bolloc . . . precii 3"
finis 6d provenit de extraura die lune proxima ante festum

Sancti Martini Episcopi et remanet in custodia pro-
positi. Et Johannes Parkere venit in placitum curie
et probavit predictum bolloc esse suum proprium.
Et dat de fine et Warancia ut patet.

mia 2d Thomas Estelake in misericordia quia non prosequitur

versus Ricardum Taylour in placito transgressionis.

MANORS IN BRATTON CLOVELLY. 155

Brattone Decennarius ibidem presentat quod Johannes Skedemur
mia49 10d 2d 1, Walterus «* Roberd 2, Thomas. M Cloue 1,

Willelmus ** Uppecote 1, Johannes M Veyse 1,
Johanna ** Roue 1, Johannes M Aylecote 1, Henricus
6(1 Vysak 1, Johannes ^ Miller 1, Thomas M Lange-
worthy 1, Robertas 6d Colyn 1, brasiaverunt cervisiam
et vendiderunt contra assisam, ideo ipsi in miseri-
cordia.

mia 18d Item presentat quod Willelmus 12d Lobet, Ricardus M

Valays communi tappa et vendiderunt cervisiam et
fregerunt assisam, ideo ipsi in misericordia. Item
presentat quod predictus Willelmus Lobet vetuit
assisam cervisie Johanni Roberd et aliis, ideo non
in misericordia.

mia 6d Item presentat [quod] Blytha Blakegrove levavit
mia 4d hutesium juste super Reginaldum Brede ideo ipse in

misericordia ex officio. Et predictus in misericordia
quia non prosequitur versus eundem in placito
transgressionis.

mia 4d Item presentat quod Reginaldus Brede percussit pre-

dictam Blytham cum 1 baculo contra pacem domini
regis, ideo ipse in misericordia ex officio.

mia 6d Item presentat quod Rogerus percussit predictam

Blytham ad effusionem sanguinis, ideo ipse in
misericordia ex officio.

mia 2d Item presentat quod Ricardus Meletone percussit
Robertum Blakegrove contra pacem ideo ipse in
misericordia ex officio.

mia 6d Item presentat quod Ricardus Bolham percussit

Willelmum Fenemur contra pacem domini regis
ideo ipse in misericordia ex officio.

mia 6d Item presentat quod Willelmus 2d Bouedone, Galfridus

dis 2d Payn, Henricus 2d Vysake se recusaverunt stare et

contribuere cum Decennario et tota decenna de

Brattone, ideo ipsi in misericordia. Et distringantur.

Godiscote Decennarius ibidem presentat quod Ricardus Taylour
mia 6d levavit hutesium juste super Willelmum Bortone

rem idio ipse in misericordia ex officio. Et partes pre-

dicts habent diem ad proximam prece parcium et sic
remanet.

mia 3d Ricardus Grymyscote in misericordia quia defecit de

lege et transgressione facta Thome Pacchecote eo
quod cepit jumentum suum, et distringatur pro
emenda.

mia 3d Willelmus Bortone pro licencia concordandi cum

Ricardo Taylour in placito debiti.

m 2

156 MANOKS IN BRATTON CLOVELLY.

mia 2d Eobertus Colyn in misericordia quia non prosequitur

versus Robertum Blakegrove in placito debiti.

Distr Adhuc distringere Blytham Yeo ad respondendum

mia quia non prosequitur
Eicardo Payard in placito convencionis etc.

mia ld Walterus Langeford in misericordia quia non prose-
quitur versus Willelmum Bouedone in placito
transgressionis.

mia ld Ricardus Yaleyse in misericordia quia non prosequitur

versus Robertum Valeyse in placito convencionis per

plegium Roberti Focbedone et — Falays.

lex quod non
mia Galfridus Payn queritur de Rogero Langewortby de

cepit jumentum suum sine warancia precii ad dampnum
dis 2d placito transgressionis nee venit. Et attachiatur per

plegium Willelmi Chaddere et propositi. Et quia

ipsum non babent ideo ipsi in misericordia et

distringantur.

mia 3d Robertus Colyn in misericordia pro non prosequendo

versus Jobannem Paccbecote eo quod cessavit dis-
tringere ipsum per 3 dies et non, ideo distringatur
pro amerciamento.

Item presentat quod Ricardus Grymyscote, Walterus
Uppecote operati sunt Alicie Medere.

farlf 3d Item presentat quod unum cotagium quod Johanna

Payn tenuit in iuanus domini, unde accidit de
farleif ut patet.

mia ld Duodecim jurati presentant quod via regia apud Wykes-
dis bill est profunda et lutosa ad nocumentum patrie.

Et decennarius et tota decenna tenentur emendare.
Et non, ideo ipsi in misericordia et distringantur.

mia ld Item via regia apud Cbemyswortby est lutosa et pro
dis funda ad nocumentum patrie quam decennarius et

tota decenna tenentur emendare, et non, ideo ipsi in
misericordia.

mia 4d Ballivus presentat quod Walterus Rysdone fecit

tran8gressionem cum averiis suis in pasture, apud
Scherysdon ideo ipse in misericordia.

mia 2d Henricus Fysake in misericordia pro detencione 38 4d
ex° versus Jobannem Forsdone in placito debiti unde

execucio.

fin 6d Tbomas Paccbesbill dat domino de fine ad unum

jumentum arestatum manibus propositi ad sectam
Ricardi Grymyscote.

Summa, 158.
Expense 1 mensis sen esc alii, 16£d.

MAKORS IN BRATTON CLOVELL*.

157

Brattone

Esson

mia ld
distr

attach

propositi

mia 4d

lex

mia

ia3d

mia 3d

mia 6d

mia2d
mia 2d

mia2d
lex

distr

[Thurs. 1 July, 1378.] (C)

Curia tenta ibidem die Jovis proxima post festum
Apostolorum Petri et Pauli anno regni regis Bicardi,
primo.

attr per pleg"1 Wm Chaddere et Prepositi
Johanna Bornebe versus Willelmum Monk queritur de
placito tran8gres8ionis.

ut supra
Thomas Foys versus eundem queritur de eodem.

Prepositus in misericordia quia non distrinxit Johannem
Adecote et Willelmum Bykelake ad ostendendum
qualiter ingressi sunt in foedum domini et dis-
tringantur.

Willelmus ^ Bouedone et Thomas ld Benet attachiati
sunt cum averiis suis in defensionem domini, ideo
ipsi in misericordia.

mia quia

Willelmus Lobet est ad legem versus Bobertum Vakys
non prosequitur

quod non tenetur ei in 2 busellis et dimidio siliginis
pro sua nee etc per plegium Henrici Yysak et Roberta
Fochedone.

Johannes Bate in misericordia quia non prosequitur
Rob1
versus Johannem Cole de placito transgressionis.

Prepositus in misericordia quia non distrinxit Willelmum
Bouedone, Galfridum Payn et Henricum Vysake [ad]
stare et contribuere cum decennario et tota decenna
de Brattone, vel ad ostendendum quare non, vel
dicere sciat quare non. Et distringatur.

Bicardus Taillour in misericordia quia non prosequitur
versus Willelmum Bortone de placito transgressionis
contra pacem.

Bicardus Payard in misericordia quia non prosequitur
versus Blytham Yeo de placito convencionis.

Bogerus Langeworthy in misericordia pro defalta versus
mia quia non prosequitur
Galfridum Payn de placito transgressionis.

Bogerus Langeworthy est ad legem versus Galfridum
Payn quod 1 jumentum suum sine Warancia non
ceperat, ideo injuste positum in penfald, nee etc, ad
dampnum et° per plegium Bicardi Falays.

Preceptum est distringere decennarium et totam
decennam de Brattone ad reparandum viam regiam
lutosam apud Wykyshille et viam lutosam apud
Chemyse worthy. Et distringantur.

158 MANORS IN BRATTON CLOVELLY.

mia ld Prepo8itus in misericordia quia non fecit execucionem

debito modo versus Johannem Forsdone de 3s 4d ad
opus Henrici Fyshlake. Et fiat execucio.

farleif 6d Homagium presentat quod Cristina Vowedone et Sana
cotag rem Gyffard reddiderunt in manus domini 2 cotagia

unde accidit domino de eorum farleis, ut patet in

eorum carta.

Summa istius curie, 2» 4d.

Item expense senescalli, 8d.

Summa 4 curiarum, 428 2d.

unde de censu, 10d.

The next roll I have is for 10 Hen. IV., 1408-9. Assaults
are frequent, and the tithing fined for not producing weapons ;
also rescue of cattle, and neglect of entering for census.
After a year stray cattle were adjudged to the lady of the
Manor. The tithing of Bratton was fined for not repairing
the king's highway near "Hiddestone brygge," and was
required to produce all measures of beer, etc., under penalty
of 208. Rob1 Reva was chosen reeve, and Jno Benete
tithingman for Brattone, who presented that Rob1 Eeva, Jno
Bussope, jr., Step. Colyn, Rob1 Roberte, and Rd Charde had
worked out of the manor and county, and had to answer to
the manor and the king as having done " contra statutum
domini Regis " ; this offence occurs repeatedly.

Rob1 Reva had assaulted Jno Boghechurch with a "suga."1
The homage were to repair the "Poundfalde of the lord, and
this often occurs. The tenants paid "de recognicione," in all
20s and 14 capons, to the new lady of the manor. Rd Mille
seems to have been her representative. There was a difficulty
over a felon's goods because the tithing had not made a
" scrutineum," and were required to do so by next Court
under a penalty of 40s. John, Pryor de Frythelstoke, held
Nywelham in Godescote, but the tithingman knew not by
what service. The twelve jurors present Geoffry Tdly as
" communis perturbator et disturbator pacis domini Regis " ;
the tithing had concealed this. Toly had prohibited Wm
Bourtone from making the scrutiny. The proceeds of six
courts for the year were £4 5s. 3d. Stitched to the roll
are "nomina censorum anno 21mo" — 38 names with their
pledges. Also — " Nomina tenendum ibidem 19°." Heirs of
Nich8 Kyrkham, Wm Bortone, Hen. Vysake, Tho8 Estelake,
freeholders. Also Rd Charde, Jno Bate, Walt. Roberte, Rob1

1 This is an unusual word, and is explained as a blood letter, probably a
bludgeon.

MANORS IN BRATTON CLOVELLY. 159

Aleyn, Tho8 Benete, Jno Fowedone, Bob1 Roberta, Rob*
Fowedone, Rob* Colyn, Wm Pasmere, Rogr Vowedone, Rd
Cranbury, Jno Pithercote, Tho8 Sybily. Next, list of the
jury, and "panella pro rege." In another, list of rents
amounting to £6 Is. 9d.

In the roll for 1416 Rd Woberhall had drawn a "daggarium"
over Rob* Stone, which had been given up to the steward,
who, out of respect to Jno Wyse, had handed it back ; blood
had been drawn. The tenants of the homagium pay "de
recognicione," 20s. Bratton freeholders — heirs of Langeforde:
Roger Waye, Rob* Kirkham, Jno Uppecote, Wm Charde,
Tho8 Skidemore, Wm Bortone, Rd Estelake.

UNDER

Jno Skydemore & Mat. Beamounde . heirs of Langeforde
Hen. Stoddone, Rob* Cranbury, and

Jno Charde . „ Wm Bourtone

Step. Vowedone, Jno Charde, Hen.

Clerke, and Tho" Skydemore . „ Rog. Waye
Tho8 Ranisre, Jno Pachecote, Jno

Morystone, Jno Wandre, Wm Body „ Rob* Kirkham

In 1422 Rd Estelake was chosen tithingman. Wm
Hankeforde "dat domine de fine (12d) pro secta sua
relaxanda usque ad festum Michaelis."

(sic)

" Via regia apvd It fosse in parte boreali de Brattone est
lutosa et profunda ad nocumentum patrie, quam Decennarius
et tota decenna de Brattone emendare tenentur." "Vocata
le fosse " in the other courts. This road which passes along
under Bradbury Castle, pointing towards Holsworthy, seems
to be the continuation of one from Chagford over Okehampton
Park, possibly the great Roman road.

Prepositus fined " quia non distrinxit Robertum Maynard
ad reparandum viam Regiam apud Dountone."

And "Willelmum Bourtone ad disobstringendum viam
communem inter more et Brattone/"

Tithing of Brattone fined "quia non reparaverunt viam
Regiam inter Regestone et Westbornebury."

M., J., and J. Frankicheyny to do homage for tenements
in Fowedone; Wm Hankeforde, clericus ... in Combe, Prior of
Plymptone, Prior of Frydelstoke ; and Rob* Dounynge ... in
Godescote.

Proceeds of 9 courts, 448 4d.

Item de finibus terre, 12s.

Fines for defalts of Wm Hankeforde, Priors of Plymptone
and Fridelstoke ; of Martin Lerchedekene (who seems to be

160 MANORS IN BRATTON CLOVELLY.

the same as M. Frankicheyny) ; of Steph. Fowedone, and
of Jno Charde— "respecta, quia non possunt levari" After-
wards "oneretur de amerciamentis Willelmi Hankeforde et
Martini Lerchedekene, quia non debent perdonari." Bp.
Bronescombe, p. 476, tells us that the Prior of Plympton held
Combe.

In 1437 Rob* Maynarde, who held of the lord in Godescote
a parcel of land at Dountone, Yeoldone, and Trendelbeare,
by military service, had died. Jno was his son and heir.

jno Maynarde, Tho8 Stoddone, and Jno Schillestone to do
fealty for holdings in Godescote; and tenants of Roger Waye
"virtute perquisicionis inde post statutum." This phrase
often comes, and means, I suppose, by virtue of purchase,
after a year ; just as ' non tenentes ' were to be brought into
the census after a year.

Rob1 Hokkeday and Jno Toly had cut down an oak in the
lord's wood, "ceperant et asportaverant mel et locustas."
Gloucestershire folk say they grow a kind of pulse called
locusts, and we think of Jno the Baptist. In Wicklifs
Translation of the New Testament (a.d. 1380) we read " he
ete hony soukis, and wilde hony." In Anglo-Saxon u hunig
suce " is the plant lovage, a herb of the genus ligusticum,
sometimes cultivated as a pot herb.

1437. Jno Wyse, who held J knight's fee in Brokescombe,
had died. Tho8 his son, of full age, to do fealty.

" Ad hanc curiam veniunt Jno Vysake, Sr., Jno Vysake, Jr.,
Wm Charde, Alice Valeys, Jno Aleyn, Rob* Smythe, Rob*
Wynboghe, Tho8 Hokeday, Rob* Cranbury, Jr., Jno Boughe-
churche, Jno Benet, et dant domine de recognicione, et
fecerunt domine fidelitatem," 26 capons.

Rob* Kyrkham, Jno Schylstone, and Rd Estelake to do
homage.

" Expense Henrici Fraunceys et senescalli, 40d."

Mat. Rysdone came and took one parcel of land called
Shoerestoverdone.

Account of Roger Corndone, bailiff for 1 year (8 Hen. VII.)
from Mich8 1492.

Rents of assise . . . £6 15" 9d

98 ld from 7 courts, 8d from censure

rent, 58 8d from estrays . . . £7 ll8 ld

Expenses— Tho8 Corndone, life annuity 208; Bailiff 48 10d;
Jno Walshe and Roger Corndone at Okehampton, at the audit,
&c, 12d; Parchment and writing the rolls 12d; To the bailiff
of E. of Devon of his honor of Okehamptone 38 7d. To

MANOBS IN BRATTON CLOVELLY. 161

Andrew Harlewyne rent — at Xmas £1 58 8d — at Easter
£2 17- 6d.

1552. Bailiff "in misericordia quia non attachiavit
Willelmum Southeo ad respondendum domino de eo quod
accusatus est, eo quod custodit in domo sua quamdam
mulierem suspectam unde," &c.

Wm Aylacott elected tithingman, Jno Aylacott reve.

" Godescote " changed to " Guscott."

1627. Henry Pengelly occupied Calahouse ; Ed Pengelly
occupied Vowsdon ; Wm Pengelly occupied Fursdon.

Sir Tho8 Wise, K.C.B., Sir Shilston Calmady, heirs of Sir
Wm Kirkham, Jno Moore, Esq., Jno Dynham, Esq. — Free
tenants.

In this year there were a large number of plaints.

Liber Curiae Manerii de Bratton pro anno de festo Sancti
Michaelis 1684.

Wm Langford and Tho8 Corindon, lords of the Manor.

Achille Prest— Bailiff.

Freeholders — Heirs of Wm Langford for Langworthy;
Eev. Cha8 Hutton for Bannadowne; Jno Pengelly for p* of
Fursdon; Josias Calmady, Esq., for Eastlake; heirs of Ed.
Wise, K.C.B., for Brockscombe ; heirs of Jno Moore, Esq., for

; heirs of Jno Dinham, Esq., for Blackabroome ; heirs

of Jao Dinham, Esq., viz. Jno Harris and Nich8 Hickes, West

Burneby and Rexon ; Jno Chasty pro ; Wm Langford,

Esq., pro ; Jno Lavers pro £ Calahowse ; Jno Corindon,

pro Lower Vowdon and Tymbrell Downe.

Leaseholders — Jno Hole, Francis Hole, Jno Lavers, Benjn
Stambury, Maria Skelly, Wm Hill, Fr. Northey, Jno Pike and
J00 Hill, Hen. Soper, Tho8 Newton, Geo. Newton, Christ.
Hall, Ed Dell, Hen. Bullis, Step. Caddy, Fr. Caddy, Chr
Rudstone, Fr. Lavers, Sibel Hutton.

Sectatores ad curiam —
Jno Pengelly, heirs Wm Langford, Esqr for Langworthy.

Sectatores ad curiam —

Heirs of Rd Burnaby, Esqr., Jno Corindon, Esqr., Jno
Chasty, Arth. Pengelly.

16. Censores.

Decimarius de Bratton — Benj. Stambury. Decimarius de
Guscutt — Hilly Peirce. Jurors for " Domino Rege " chosen.

High way from Rexon Water to Whiteacross ; high way
from Bradwood Water to Bradamoor; high way from
Heddisdon More to Luddon Corner ; high way from Wrixell
Bridge to Long Crosse — in decay, to be repaired; so also
" Colliatrigium " et " Abapum."

162 MANORS IN BRATTON OLOVELLY.

Jno Hole, prepositus for coming year. Jno Pengelly, Esq.,
of Fursdon . . . decimarius for coming year. Jno Stuky, beer
taster.

19 Chas. I. 1633, comes a deed relating to West-Borough,
in the Bosleia part of Bratton. Jao Saunders of Bratton
conveys his right for term of years to Moises Langifforde in
trust It was sometime the inheritance of Jno Hockadaye.

Many interesting names occur in the Eolls.

Borneby, Joan in 1377, Edw* in 1432, Wm., Rd., and Rob*
in 1684. Their pedigree is set down by Vivian, p. 119. I
have a deed signed "Thomas Burnebury." Thurs. before
29 June, 1490. "Noverint ... me Thomam Burnebury
armigerum remisisse . . . Johanni Dymok armigero . . .
in Westwertha in parochia de Wike-germyn."

Estelake begins in 1377, and is found in all the rolls till
after 1552.

Kirkham. Kerham in 1377 ; Kyrcham and Kirchamyston,
1408 ; then Kirkham.

Hokkeday regularly from 1416 to 1552.

Langeford — from 1552 — belonged to one of the oldest
Devon families. I have some hundred deeds which belonged
to them, dating back from the thirteenth century.

Mansypdyche, or Manchypsydiche, is remarkable. There
is a farm, Mandich, close to Bradbury Castle, and Maindea
in Bratton. Also Quodich, or Cowdich, a few miles to the
West. Also Youldich by Meldon, and Olditch by Stickle-
path. By Hannaditches near Seaton are the remains of
a Roman villa. We have Wm Mansip.2

Pengelly will interest members of the Association. They
were for some time lords of the Manor.

Manscipe in Anglo-Saxon means what belonged to man,
just as lordship what belonged to the lord. This may
suggest that the hundred court was held at Bradbury. But
we have also mancipium, "a buying," and mancipatio,
manumissio ; mancipium is, moreover, sometimes a villa.
The last seems to afford the true explanation, and then the
farm now called Mansditch, adjoining Bradbury, will be the
Farm by the Ditch, and we might find there traces of a
Roman villa. Again, Cair — mancipit (vol. xxiii. p. 67, Trans.)
is Verulam, where Caesar defeated Cassivelaunus — i.e. the
villa of the caer, ceaster, or Chester.

Next we notice Shereystone, Shuryston, Sherestooerdone —
called in the Tithe Map, Chestermoor. Sher, caer, castr seem

* Somerset Records, v. 36.

MANOBS IN BRATTON CLOVELLY. 163

to be from the same root. So Sher-es-t-over-down is the
down of the rill of the fortified place.

Eysdone, Eyssdone, Beysdone occurs from 1408 to 1437.
They lived at a farm in Bratton, still called Eisedon, meaning,
probably, having regard to its situation, rising ground. This
seems to have been the cradle of the family. The Ardiqvary
tells us they came from near Okehampton. I append an
abstract of a deed of conveyance of " Eisdon."

15 Dec. 20 Hen. 7. 1504— "apud Eisdone." "Omnibus . . .
Nos magr Tho8 Austell Tresaurarius (sic.) ecclesie Cathedralis
Exon8, Wm Kelly de Southweke armiger, et Nicholaus
Hokkeday. . . . Cum nos . . . per Wm Eisdone f. et her
Thome Eisdone . . . nuper feoffati fuerimus de et in . . .
ipsius Wm Eisdone, in Eisdone, cum le Bromehill, et medie-
tate terre sue de Godmisdone in par. de Brattone, cum
communi pasture in Bozisleghe . . . et eciam de et in toto
prato suo in Cronslade, cum communi pasture in Pyttyllyl-
worthy in par. de Sorton, etc."

In trust for Wm Eisdone for life ; remr to Jno s. & h. ; rem'
to Tho8 Wm and Nich8 ; remr to Joan sist. Jno. Attornies —
Wm Hockeday, Jno Corindone. Witnesses — Hen. Estlake,
Wm Dowe, Eogr Corindone.

Swathele— 1408— Wm

5 Ap. 20 Hen. 8. 1528— " Omnibus . . . Eogerus
Langyfibrde et Johannes Putcot imperpetuum recuperavimus
. . . Swatheledowne aliter dictum Landone . . . versus
Johannam Yeldone viduam per breve domini Eegis de
ingressu. . . ."

Swaddledowne was the residence of the Langfords.

Trybuke— Colyn de, 1408. Trebek Tho8, 1482. We have
also Trylleland (which belonged to Jno de Bratton), Tymbrell
Down, and Tymbury, which seem to indicate8 the " cucking
stoole, anciently Tymbrel or Trebucket, by Bracton, Tym-
borella."

There is a farm near the village called Calehouse, which
was Calewhouse and Calwehous in 1432, Calahouse in 1684.
The index to Glouces. Corpor. Records mentions "Bald,
Caluus, le Cauf, Henry the . . . Callow, Calewe, le Calwe,
Eobert atte Caluwe. Also Cayleway Elias."

I take it, then, Calehouse is a place of bare, thin, poor
soil; that Cayleway or Kellaway, the ancient name of the
Staffords, is from the same source ; and also such names as
Cold-harbour, Cole-house, which often occur in Devonshire
and other counties.

3 Blount, And. Tots. 117.

164 MANORS IN BRATTON CLOVKLLY.

Meletone Rd— thus the name is written in 1377. In 1408
it is Bd Mille, and in 1432 Hen. atte Mille. The manor
courts were held at Milltown. Melhuish is, of course, a
well-known name in this part of Devon. Mel-hus is, in
Anglo-Saxon, a meal house, a mill — hence the origin of the
name. Again, Melihebury mead, Upper and Lower Melbury
are near Bradbury Castle, and near them is a mill, so that
Melbury seems to be the mill of the stronghold.

Between Bratton and Bradbury we have Metherell,
Swatheledown, and Voghelesdon, or Woghelesdone. Are
we wrong in taking these to mean (1) the more wearisome
hill (med-er), (2) the sweat hill down — now Swaddledown,
(3) the farm at the cross roads of the hill (wog-es, of the
turning) ?

THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY.

II.

THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDROLL.

BY REV. OSWALD J. RBICHEL, M.A., B.C.L., F.S.A.
(Read at Okehampton, July, 1895.)

In the following paper I propose to enquire into the connec-
tion which exists between the contents of the Domesday
Book1 and the contents of the Geldroll, so far as they relate
to this county. The Geldroll is a record of the total sums
paid into the King's Exchequer, or excused from being paid,
in the year 1084 on the basis of the then existing assess-
ment ; the Domesday Survey, a record of the several estates
liable to contribute to the King's geld, and the amount of the

1 In a former paper (Trans, xxvi. 148) I fear I have too readily followed
Dr. Oliver in identifying Wrfciete with Hurdwick. Plenty of other instances
may, nevertheless, be quoted to prove the confusion of t and k. Thus
Spioewito is now Spitchwicfc. Edril and Edric are constantly interchanged.
Barfestan and BacAestan seem to be variants of the same name. Devonshire
people still call a casfc a casl, and a misl a mis£ (Trans, xiii. 90), and many
others say as* for-asfe. Mr. Hutchinson, in his " Population of Sidmouth in
1260," (Trans, vii. 205), gives No. 35, Codde or Todde ; No. 57, Cocele or
Totele; No. 133, Costinere or Tostinere, as equivalents. Churchstowe was in
the 13th century frequently written Thurescowe (Oliver, Mon. 374), and in
the After Death Inquests, 47 Henry III., of Baldwin de Insula, Tamer ton
Foliot was written Caverton Foliot. Alberic, of the Exchequer Domesday, is
called Alberid in the Exeter Book, under Stochelie (No. 434, p. 416). It has
been pointed out to me that in identifying Edwin's Buterlie ( Trans, xxvi 155)
with Butterleigh in Hairidge Hundred, Butterleigh Parish, which is a
detached part of Cliston Hundred, is left unaccounted for. I readily accept
the correction. And since Edwin had only two holdings, one of which was
in Cliston, the other in Hairidge Hundred, it follows that Edwin's other
holding, Clist, must be in Hairidge Hundred. We can hardly, then, do
otherwise than identify it with Clist William in Plymtree, a small farm of
about 80 acres, which lies in Hairidge Hundred. Thorn bury mentioned

£163 is not in Cheriton Bishop, but is a detached part of Hittisleigh Parish,
ardon mentioned pp. 163 and 311 is also not in South Tawton Parish, but
is a detached part of Drewsteignton Parish.

166 THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDBOLL.

liability of each in the year 1086. The subject of assess-
ment is, therefore, common to both. May I, then, be
permitted, before comparing the contents of the two, (1) to
say a word on the system of assessment in use among the
Saxons in levying the taxes severally known as the Dane-
geld, the Heregeld, and the King's geld ? 2 I will then (2)
draw attention to the apparent discrepancies between the two
records, and finally (3) offer some suggestions which may help
to explain them.

L THE ASSESSMENT OF DANEGELD, HEREGELD, AND THE

KING'S GELD.

1. The invasions of the Northmen or Danes began, as is
well known, before the accession of Egbert to the throne, in
the year 787 a.d. Mr. Freeman, in his History of the
Norman Conquest, has shewn that in these invasions three
periods may be distinguished, (1) one of mere plunder, from
787 to 855 a.d. ; (2) one of settlement, from 855 to 897 a.d. ;
and (3) one of political conquest, from 980 to 1016 A.D.8 It is
in the last of these periods that the Danegeld commences.

In the year 991 a.d., the Northmen, under Justin and
Guthmund, made a serious attack upon the East of England,
intending to establish themselves there. Against them the
Alderman Brihtnoth took the field. Just as he was preparing
for battle, the enemy sent a herald offering to withdraw on
payment of a sum of money, to be assessed at their dis-
cretion. The proposal was scouted, and the battle of Maldon
fought, in which Brihtnoth was slain and the Northmen
were victorious. After the country had been ravaged by
them, their offer was reconsidered by the advice of Archbishop
Sigeric, and ultimately accepted ; and thus, as Mr. Freeman
expresses it, " was inaugurated the fatal policy of trying to
effect by gold what could not be effected by steel, and
trusting to barbarians who never kept their promises, and
who, as soon as they had spent one instalment of tribute,
came back to exact another."4 The payment then first made
to buy off massacre and plunder was called Danegeld.

2 In Trans, xxvi. 153, following Freeman's Norman Conquest i. 672, 1 have
used the '* Danegeld " to express ail three. It might have been better to call
it the King's geld. The King's geld is called Danegeld in a charter of
Richard I. quoted by Oliver, Afonaslicon, p. 373 .

3 Freeman, Norman Conquesti. pp. 12,44; Davidson, in Trans, xiii. 107.
Pengelly, in Trans, xiii. 140, musters all the authorities dealing with the first
appearance of the Danes in 787 a.d., and p. 146 sums up in favour of Port-
land being the place at which they landed.

4 Freeman, Ibid. pp. 296, 304.

THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDROLL. 167

Three years afterwards, the South of England was overrun
and plundered by the same foe. A simiL expedient was
resorted to, and a sum of £16,000 paid to the two Danish
kings, not as the price of withdrawal from the country, but
of abstention from massacre and plunder.5 Six years later,
in 1001 A.D., the Danes again overspread the country, wast-
ing, burning, killing in their accustomed manner. The men
of Somerset and Devon gathered their forces and met the
enemy at Pinhoe ; but the force of two shires was not
enough for the purpose. The Danes had the advantage of
numbers, and put the irregular English levies to flight.6
Again they had to be bought off on their own terms, and
this time £24,000 was asked and paid.

In the winter of 1006-1007 a.d. the Danes were once more
at their old practices. This was the most fearful inroad
which England had yet seen. But such was the weakness
of the country, and the incompetence of its rulers, that
nothing could be thought of save the old expedient of
money. The price was, however, raised. This time £36,000
had to be paid.7

Once more, in 1011 a.d., the same miserable scenes were
gone through. The price was then further raised, and £48,000
demanded.8 Finally, when in the year 1016 a.d. the forces
of Edmund had been defeated by Cnut at Assandun, the
heaviest Danegeld of all was demanded as a condition of
peace — £10,500 to be paid by London, and £72,000 by the
rest of the kingdom.9 To avoid the recurrence of such
crushing demands in future, the Witenagemot assembled at
London elected Cnut for sovereign and lord, and with this
election the payment of Danegeld, as such, came to an end.
What was subsequently called Danegeld, was in reality
Heregeld, or the King's geld.10

2. Long before the Danegeld was thought of, in fact from
the time when the Saxons first established themselves in this
country, money, as well as men, was from time to time
required for purposes of defence. To raise this money a tax
was imposed, called Heregeld or army tax. The system
according to which the Heregeld was levied appears to have
been the following. The sum required to be raised was
apportioned among the contributory shires, the quota of each

5 Freeman, Ibid. p. 317.

6 Ibid. p. 340, and Peterborough Chronicle, quoted by Davidson, Trans,
xt. 146.

7 Ibid. p. 361. 8 Ibid. p. 382. 9 Ibid. p. 462.
10 Ibid. i. 572 ; ii. 124.

168 THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THI QELDROLL.

shire being determined by the number of the existing Saxon
homesteads. Instead of paying so much in the pound, as is
the modern custom, each full homestead, mansa, cassata, or
hide11 was required to contribute a specified sum, 4Jd. in one
case, Is. or 2s. in other cases, and all the land under cultiva-
tion was grouped under homesteads. Thus the homestead or
hide, and not the pound, was the unit of assessment.

At first, no doubt, when the defence of each shire
was conducted by its own ealderman, the number
of assessed homesteads, or hides, may have kept pace
with the actual number of existing homesteads, two,
three, or four small homesteads being grouped together so
as to count as one full homestead. But as the kingdom was
consolidated, such a system would be found to have many
drawbacks. Unless the number of homesteads available
for a levy were approximately known, the central authority
would be unable to determine the rate at which the tax
should be gathered. Accordingly the kingdom had no sooner
become consolidated, than the number of contributory hides
in each shire appears as a fixed number, and also the
number apportioned to each hundred composing the shire.
Henceforth, as new homesteads sprang up, they seem to
have been made to contribute to the Heregeld, not by
increasing the number of hides or assessment-units in the
shire or Hundred, but by redistributing the existing assess-
ment-units between the old and the new homesteads, some-
what after the manner in which the land-tax is now dealt
with. This state of things may possibly have been brought
about during Egbert's over-lordship. Even redistribution
probably ceased after King Alfred's time, which may account
for the stories which refer to him the institution of Hun-
dreds and tithings. I do not know that there is any evidence
to shew that any changes were made in the Hundreds, between
the time of King Alfred and the Conquest. Indeed, it is
not easy to see how the Hundreds could have been courts
of record, as we know they were, had their constituent parts

11 Mansa is the term generally used in the Charters to express what is
called hide in Domesday. For instance, the half mansa at Littleham, in
the Charter quoted by Mr. Davidson in Trans, xv. 148, is the half hide in
Dmncsday, ISo. 289, p. 263. According to Ine's Law a.d. 693 (Law 13 in
Johnson, 61 in Haddan and Stubbs, EccUs. Documents, iii. 217),
Church shot had to be paid " according to the healm [or roof] and
to the fire hearth" which a man occupied at midwinter. This
method of supporting the Church by paying so much for each homestead
was, doubtless, the old Saxon system before the payment of tithes was
introduced. The practice of giving 40 sheaves from each holding, referred to
in Trans, xxvi. 137, n. 3, appears to have been a survival of it.

THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDROLL. 169

been ever-changing. Such changes as were made after the
Conquest are generally said to have been made wrongfully.12
The Hundred system was breaking up in the thirteenth
century, when tithings, one after another, withdrew their
suit and rendered it where they pleased.

So far as Devonshire is concerned, it may be inferred from
the extreme sub-division of the hides or assessment-units
among the estates mentioned in Domesday, that the quota
of each Hundred must have been fixed at a time when the
Saxon population was very sparse.13 If the Conquest of
Devon was effected as early as Cynewulfs reign (755-784
a.d.), as Mr. Davidson gives good reason for believing,14
there is nothing about the circumstances of this county
to militate against dating the fixing of the assessment
from Egbert's time. Here and there, it is true, indications
of a thicker population are to be found, which might point
to a later date. Thus, ten full homesteads must have existed
at Woodbury when the number of assessment-units was
fixed, but these may have included also the assessment
of Lympstone, since in the After Death Inquests, of 17
Edward I., Lympstone is not described as a manerium
extentum, but only as a hamlet. There were also twenty
at Paignton, but these may have been distributed in groups
over a large area, including Paignton, Marldon, Collaton
St. Mary, and Stoke Gabriel.15 There were eighteen at
Bishopsteignton, but these, again, may have been distributed
over Chudleigh, Bishopsteignton, and West Teignmouth,16

19 Of Bichenelie (No. 62, p. 57), which was appurtenant to Tawstock, in
Fremington Hundred in King Edward's time, it is said : This land is now
wrongfully appurtenant to Bichentone [in North Tawton Hundred]. Otber
instances of withdrawal from the tithing to which they belonged, which
may, or may not, have involved withdrawal from the Hundred, are Swetton
(No. 1107, p. 1053), Hanberie (No. 1131, p. 1073), Doulton (No. 1108,
p. 1155). In the thirteenth century the Hundred Rolls are full of
presentments of withdrawals. Thus under Shebbear : Joanna de Campo
Arnulpho has withdrawn from monthly suit to the Hundred, and renders
it to the Manor of Beaford.

w King's Presidential Address, Trans, vii. 39.

14 Trans, ix. 209.

18 See the Deed dated 10th July, 1654, quoted by Mr. Lane in Trans, xvi.
706.

u The Bishop's Tantone, No. 107, p. 101, contained 5810 acres. The
present parish of Bishopsteignton contains 3130, or only half that quantity.
West Teignmouth, which contains 403 acres, was not separated from Bishops-
teignton before Henry IIL'g time. Dr. Lake, in Trans, vi. 377, Quotes
Risdon as saying that the separation was effected in the twenty-second year
of Bishop Blondy. As Bishop Blondy only held the See for twelve years,
1245-1257 A.D., this may be an error for the second year, a.d. 1246.
Chudleigh, which contains 6230 acres, appears also to have been included
in the Bishop's Tantone. It is not otherwise mentioned in Domesday.

VOL. XXVIL N

170 THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELD ROLL.

fourteen at Otterton, twelve at Bishop's Taw ton, again dis-
tributed over an area of some 15,000 acres,17 nine at Holcumbe
Bogus, seven each at Musbury, Chillington or Stokenham,
and Tallaton, six each at Werrington, U ply me, Kenn, and
Ashburton, and five each at Tawstock, Winkleigh, Culmstock,
Shebbear, and Ghulmleigh. It is indeed probable that for
some time after the Saxon Conquest of the county, when the
hostility between races ran high,18 Saxon homesteads never
stood alone, but always in groups, and each homestead may
have consisted of several families. But as the Saxon hold
on the county grew firmer, these homesteads and families
may have distributed themselves over the surrounding area,
or, at least, have distributed the liability to contribute over
it. Thus not only hides are met with, but half-hides and
quarter hides, or virgates, and half-quarters, and sixteenths
or ferlings, and, occasionally, half ferlings and third ferlings.19
3. Upon the death of Harold and the election of
Harthacnut to be King over all England in the year 1040,
the tax which had first been known as Heregeld, and
afterwards collected as Danegeld ceased to be gathered
for these purposes. From time to time a similar tax con-
tinued to be levied by the Sovereign for his own purposes,
which was then called the King's geld. Harthacnut had
come over with sixty ships. For each man of their crews
he demanded twenty marks,20 and for his own use £22,000.
This tax was raised in exactly the same way as the Heregeld,
viz., so much from each full homestead or hide, the number
of hides not being the number of homesteads actually

17 Bishop's Tautone (No. 114, p. 109) contained in Domesday 15,136 acres
Sawins Birige ... (No. 306, p. 285) „ „ 402 acres

The two together ... 15,538 acres
Bishop 8 Tawton Parish now contains 3863
Land key ,, ,, 3161

Swymbridge „ „ 7061

Together ... 14,085 acres

May some parts of Chittlehampton have been included in the Bishop's
Tautone ? Or were the plough lands only ninety acies each 1

18 Canon 59, Concil. Chelsea, a.d. 816 : "That none of Scottish extraction
be permitted to exercise the sacred ministry in any one's Church."

" Thus originally there may have existed four Saxon homesteads, all lying
together at Budleigh, in the district now occupied by East Budleigh,
Withecombe, Fen Ottery, and Littleham parishes. It would then pay
for 4 hides. As the families composing these homesteads distributed
themselves over the surrounding country, first 1 hide was charged upon
Withecombe, then 1 hide upon Bicton, 4 hide upon Littleham, £ hide upon
Dalditch, £ virgate each upon Landesherg and Boystock, and J hide upon
Newton Poppleford, leaving Budleigh township only answerable for} hide.

30 Freeman, L 569.

THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDROLL. 171

existing, but the number assessed upon each shire and
Hundred. In 1084 a.d., the King's geld was levied at the
rate of 6s. per hide ; in Henry L's time, in 1130 A.D., at the
rate of 2s. ; in Henry II.'s time, in 1156 a.d., at a similar
rate.21

Under this system of assessment the burden of taxation
fell very unequally on different parts of the kingdom. In
some shires — in Berkshire for instance, where the county was
fully peopled by Saxons before Egbert's time — the number of
assessed homesteads or hides very nearly corresponded with
the actual number. In Middlesex it was even in excess of
it, in the ratio of 6 to 5. In the western counties it fell
short of it, in Dorset short, in Devonshire shorter, shortest of
all in Cornwall. We shall, therefore, do well to remember
that the hide in Devonshire is purely a measure of liability
to contribute, and not a measure of area. Probably no
preater confusion has ever been made than that of treating
the hide of Domesday as an extendible quantity, and speaking
of it as having contained so many hundred or thousand acres,
because at the time when the quota of each Hundred was
fixed only so many Saxon homesteads existed within a given
area, and that area, if equally divided, would average that
number of acres to each.22 The Saxon homestead, here as
elsewhere, contained approximately about 100 acres of arable
land, sometimes more, occasionally less, but in this county
probably less than elsewhere, say 65 acres as a minimum,
115 as a maximum. It was what would be now called
a four-horse farm, with the usual adjuncts of meadow,
pasture, and wood. The position it held at first in the
surrounding country was that of a clearance in the forest,
an oasis in the desert. The surrounding country it did
not originally include,23 and bore no relation to its ex-

21 Eyton's Dorset Domesday i. 70.

a Around Morbath, for instance (No. 66. p. 61), which paid for 3 hides, it is
stated in Domesday, lay 2070 acres ; around Holcumbe Rogus (No. 484,
p. 457), which paid for 9 hides 2474 acres. We cannot thence infer that a
hide in Morbath measured 690 acres, and a hide at Holcumbe 275, but only
that three Saxon homesteads existed in the district of Morbath, whereas 9
existed in the district of Holcumbe at the time when the contributory quota
of these districts was fixed.

n Astonishment has been expressed that South Molton (No. 10, p. 9), with
an area of 4400 acres, should only have paid on 1^ vir^ates. But supposing
that there were originally only two Saxon homesteads there, or a number of
■mailer ones equivalent to two full ones, we may imagine that as the hostility
between the conquerors and the conquered subsided, these homesteads over-
flowed, and first included Hacche (No. 1126, p. 1069). upon which an assess-
ment of J-hide was paid ; then Bremeridge (No. 199, p. 181). which was
assessed also at 2 virgates ; then Ringedone (No. 487* p. 461) called upon to
contribute to the extent of 1 virgate ; North A Her (No. 200, p. 183), South

N 2

172 THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAT AND THE GELDROLL.

tent.24 Liberty to enclose or "essart" was not given until
King John disafforested the county in 1204.

IL DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN THE DOMESDAY RECORD

AND THE GELDROLL.

We pass on to compare the contents of the two docu-
ments.

1. The Geldroll dates from the year 1084 A.D.26 In the
following year, according to the Saxon Chronicle, " the King
held a great consultation, and spoke deeply with his witan
concerning the land, how it was held, and what were its
tenants. He then sent his men over all England, into every
shire, and caused them to ascertain how many hundred hides
of land it contained, and what lands the King possessed
there, what cattle there were in the several counties, and
how much revenue he ought to receive yearly from each.
He also caused them to write down how much land belonged
to his Archbishops, to his Bishops, Abbots, and Earls, and
that I may be brief, what property every inhabitant of
all England possessed in land or in cattle, and how much
money this was worth. So very narrowly did he cause
the survey to be made that there was not a single hide, nor a

Aller (No. 1126, p. 1069), Ringedone (No. 11, p. 9) required to contribute
each to the extent of £ virgate, leaving only 1} virgates to be borne by South
Molton itself. Similarly at North Tawton (No. 3, p. 5) there may have been
originally only 2 Saxon homesteads, and hence its contribution was fixed at
2 bides. Then, as Tawelande (No. 1200, p. 1135) was included, it was
made answerable for 1 virgate ; Crook (No. 1202, p. 1137) for 3 virgates ;
an adjacent settlement (No. 1203, p. 1137) for 1 virgate ; Greenslade (No.
462, p. 437) for J virsrate ; Pafford (No. 1143, p. 1085) for 1 virgate ; Nicols
Nimet (No. 458, p. 433) for 1 virgate, until only J virgate was left as the
basis of contribution tor North Tawton.

** Blacktorrington (No. 58, p. 53). assessed at If hides is found in an area
of 3300 acres in Domesday, whilst Sidbury (No. 118, p. 113), assessed at 3,
is found in an area of 3412 acies. Woodbury (No. 50, p. 45), assessed at 10
hides, has about it an area of 3890 acres, whilst Otter ton (No. 300, p. 277),
assessed at 14, has 2875; Collumpton (No. 1224, p. 1157), assessed at 1
virgate, is in the midst of 3372 acres ; and Lege (No. 1185. p. 1123), also
assessed at 1 virgate of 75 acres. B rede lie (No. 1130, p. 1071), assessed at
1 virgate, has around it 672 acres, and Weaver (No. 515, p. 485), assessed also
at 1 virgate. 220. Hemyock (No. 13, p. 11), assessed at 1 virgate, 1656 acres,
and South Molton (No. 10, p. 9), assessed at 1J virgates, 4400. Hille (No.
1196. p. 1133), assessed at £ ferling, or nVof a hide, has about it 170 acres ;
the adjoining Combe (No. 1197, p. 1133), with the same assessment, 51.
One estate at Worlington (No. 1137, p. 1077), assessed at 1 ferling, has 50
acres ; another estate at Worlington (No. 760, p. 729), also assessed at 1
ferling, 102J. In one case an estate of 55 acres at Clist William pays for
J hide (No. 1251, p. 1183), in another an estate of 51 acres at Wood and
Honeyland, Tiverton (No. 990, p. 951), pays for 1 ferling, or ^ of a hide,
whilst at Standone (No. 965, p. 927) an estate of 80 acres pays for a virgate.

19 Eyton's Dorset Domesday, p. 109. Davidson, in Trans. xvL, p. 450.-

THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDROLL. 173

rood of land, nor — it is shameful to relate that which
he thought no shame to do — was there an ox, or a cow,
or a pig passed by that was not set down in the returns, and
then all these writings were brought to him." The returns
seem to have reached the King, at Winchester, before Easter,
1086. During Pentecost he was at Westminster, and "he
came to Salisbury at Lammas ; and his witan and all the
landholders of substance in England, whose vassals soever
they were, repaired to him there; and they all submitted
to him and became his men, and swore oaths of allegiance to
him that they would be faithful to him against all others."
The transcript from these returns, either in its unabbreviated
form as the Exeter Book, or in its abbreviated form as
the Exchequer Book, is therefore a Register of all estates
which were then assessed to the King's geld, whether
exempt or not from payment ; and, inasmuch as the Geldroll
is a list of payments made into the Exchequer from the
same estates only the year previously, it follows that the
contents of one must be substantially identical with the
contents of the other.

2. The first point in which the contents of the two seem
to differ is that names are found in the Geldroll which
do not appear in Domesday. Thus, in Plympton Hundred
(p. xliii.), land is mentioned as held by Serlo under Godfrey,
and by Adzo and Frotmund under Reginald ; and also
in Ermyngton Hundred (p. xlvi.), as held by Odo, Turstin,
Letard, and Frotmund under Eeginald. These names do not
occur in Domesday. The explanation is, however, very
simple.86 Each estate was assessed to the King's geld at a
certain amount, but as we see from the Exeter Book this
assessment was divided, so much on the lordship, so much on

98 Serlo's J hide, held tinder Godfrey, in Plympton Hundred, may possibly
be Winestane(No. 342, p. 321), i.e., if Winestane is Weston in Yealmpton, and
not Wisdom in Corn wood ; for the latter is in Ermyngton Hundred. Or else it
may be Tori (No. 368. p. 345). Both Winestane and Tori are, however, in
Domesday said to be held by Reginald, not by Godfrey [de Valletorta, p. 838],
under the Earl of Moritain. But elsewhere in the Exeter Book (No. 36,
p. 32), Godfrey is said to hold Ferdendel of the Earl, whereas in the
Exchequer Book (No. 386, p. 365), Ferdendelle is said to be held by
Reginald. There seems to have been some change of ownership. Were they
father and son, or uncle and nephew ? Adzo's £ hide is Hearaton in Brixton
(Harestane, No. 34, p. 321); Frotmund's 1 virgate Spriddlestone in Brixton
(Spredelestone, No. 370, p. 347), both said in Domesday to be held by
Reginald of the Earl. Odo's } hide held under Reginald is probably
Lodbrook (No. 338, p. 317) ; Letard's 1 virgate, Lupridge in North
Hewish (No. 839. p. 319), Frotmund's £ virgate, Torpeak (Pech, No. 890,
p. 369). and Turstin's J hide, the part of Yealmpton, called Alfelmestone
(No. 1039, p. 997). The three former of these were held by Reginald of the
Earl of Moritain, the last-named by Reginald, of Ruald Adobed.

174 tea Devonshire domesday and the geldroll.

the village-land, and the lordship itself was often farmed out
The collector, who knew the distribution and the farmer,
set down in the Geldroll who had paid and who was in
arrear. But the Kings Domesday Commissioners generally
ignore such private arrangements, and treat the lord as
owning the whole, unless the farmer happens to be a
frankling. When the villagers themselves are the farmers, it
is only accidentally noticed.27

It is, of course, just possible that between 1084 A.D., when
the Geldroll was drawn up, and the following year, when the
materials for the Domesday record were collected, some
changes of ownership may have taken place other than those
brought about by grants to dependents in fee, farm, or at
will.28 But it is in the last degree improbable that such
changes should have been made without being mentioned in
Domesday. We are distinctly told that the King holds
Ermentone (No. 36, p. 31) and Auetone * (Blackawton, No.
37, p. 31), which he obtained from Walter de Dowai, in

17 Under Herstanhaia, in Clistone Hundred, No. 894, p. 862 : Goscelm
[the Canon of Exeter, p. xzvi.] has a barton-estate . . . which paid geld
for 1J hides. There Goscelm has six villagers, who have these 1J hides and
these three plough-teams to farm.

** In Colyton Hundred, p. xxxiv. the widow, Emma, is stated to have
2J virgates exempt. The name appears only once in Domesday, as that
ot Baldwin's wife holding Bredeford (No. 540, p. 513), but Odo is stated to
hold 2 virgates in lordship under Baldwin at Come (in Gittisham, No. 584,
p. 557), and Rainald to have 2 ferlings in lordship under Baldwin at Offwell
(No. 585, p. 557). Excepting these two estates, I can point to no others
in Colyton Hundred which could represent the widow Emma's land. Was
this Emma Baldwin's daughter a widow atter the death of her first husband,
Richard Avenell ? If so, we can understand why Domesday treats her estates
as Baldwin's, who may have given them to her in frank marriage, and held
them for her after her husband's death. In Tiverton Hundred, p. xxv.,
Alivet is said to be in arrear on 2 ferlings, which he held under Odo
Fitz Gamelin. This seems to be Cilletone (Che ten, No. 1140, p. 1081),
which in Domesday Odo Fitz Gamelin himself held. Alivet may, therefore,
only have been farming them, or a tenant at will. In the Hundred
Rolls of 3 Ed. I. a.d. 1274, p. 31, we read : " King John gave the Hundred
[Budleigh J to William Briwere to hold at the will of the King." Ibid. p.
32. Reginald de Sauser now holds Chilsworthy by gift of the King at
the King's pleasure.

t9 That the King's Auetone must be Blackawton, and Ruald Adobed's
Auetone (No. 1038, p. 997), Awton Giffard, may be shewn as follows: —
I. The King's Auetone was the larger of the two. It contained 2465
acres, whereas Ruald's Auetone only contained 1294. Now, Blackawton
is the larger of the two, and contains 5646 acres, whereas Awton
Giffard contains 3182. This raises a presumption that the King's
Auetone is Blackawton. 2. In Domesday, Ruald Adobed, besides
Auetone held also Witecerce, Lambretone. Were, Chempebere, and other
places. In the 4th year of Ed. I., Emma, daughter of Walter Giffard, died
seized of Aveton Giffard, Whitechurch, Lamerton, Were, Kempebere,
and Lemstelegh {After Death Inquests, p. 60). This raises a presumption

THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELD ROLL. 175

exchange for Bampton (No. 804, p. 775). We are also told
that the Bishop of Exeter holds Haxon and Button, in
Bratton Fleming (No. 113, p. 109), which he obtained from
the Earl of Mortain in exchange for the Castle of Cornwall;
that the wife of Hervi de Helion holds Essestone (Exton
in Woodbury, No. 1150, p. 1091), and other lands which
she obtained in exchange for Cilletone (probably XJheten,
in Tiverton, No. 1140, p. 1081); and that Ruald Adobed
holds Panestan (Panson, St. Giles1 in the Heath, No. 1014,
p. 971), which he received in exchange for Brockland in
Axmouth (No. 1004, p. 963), and Bedic (Rayrish in South
Leigh, No. 1005, p. 963).30 We also read at the close of
the entry respecting Sutone (Sutton Satchville, No. 1208,
p. 1145) : The above estates are those which William
the Seneschal, or Dispenser, got by exchange. All these
references to exchange are made, although the exchanges
themselves must have been completed before the time
of the Geldroll.81 Is it, then, unreasonable to suppose
that had there been any other more recent exchanges the
Domesday Survey would have passed them over without
notice ?

that Ruald's Auetone was the one which she held. 3. The parish of Awton
Giffard contains besides Auetone two other Domesday estates, Heathfield(No.
283, p. 257). held by Rucfast Abbey, containing 1242 acres, and Jndhel's Stad-
bury (No. 657, p. 629), containing 320 acres. If the 1562 acres of these
two latter estates are deducted from the 3182 acres which the parish
contains, there remain 1620 acres, an adequate amount to represent Ruald's
Auetone, but too few by one-half to represent the King's Auetone. Lest any
one might think to get over this difficulty by suggesting that the Abbot
of Bucfast's Heathfield is not Heath field in Awton Giffard, but Heathfield
in Lodiswell, the Hundred Rolls of 3 Ed. I., a.d. 1274 (quoted by Mr.
Brooking Rowe, Trans, viii., 825, 876). state that the Abbot holds Battekes-
burne (Battisborough), Hetfell and Essa (Abbot's Ash, near Brownstone,
in Modbury) in Ermyngton Hundred. Heathfield in Awton Giffard is
in Ermyngton Hundred, whereas Heathfield in Lodiswell is in Stanboro*
Hundred. The latter cannot, therefore, be the Abbot's Heathfield. 4. The
Geldroll. p. xlvi., states that Ruald Adobed had an exempt lordship
of 1 hide in Ermyngton Hundred. Now, Ruald can have had no estate
at all in Ermyngton Hundred, unless it were Aueton assessed at 3 hides,
of which 1 hide was in the lordship. It follows that Ruald's Auetone must
lie in Ermyngton Hundred, which Awton Giffard does, but Blackawton does
not

30 Called Redarch in After Death Inquests, 20 Ed. I. a.d. 1291.

11 The Geldroll, p. xxxi., states that the wife of Harvei de Helion had
\ hide and \ virgate exempt lordship in Budleigh Hundred. This
cannot be Cilletone, the whole assessment of which was only 2 ferlings,
but must have been one or more of the lands received in exchange,
either Hacheurde or Essestone, or both. Hacheurde is too small to supply
the necessary exemption. Essestone remains. It follows that Essestone
must have been in the possession of Hervi de Helion's wife before the
date of the Geldroll.

176 THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELD ROLL.

3. There is, however, a seeming discrepancy between the
Geldroll and the Domesday Survey of a far more serious kind,
viz., the difference between the total number of assessment
hides enumerated in the Geldroll, and the total number
which is obtained by adding up those mentioned in
Domesday. Although it has involved long calculations, I have
thought.it best to deal here with the totals of the whole
shire, because if we take the case of any particular Hundred,
it may be so easily suggested that the Hundreds have
altered, and that, therefore, no argument can be based upon
the difference.

A. According to the Geldroll, the sum total of all the
assessment-hides in the shire is 1026 J, which may not
impossibly be a transcriber's error for 1027£, the VI. being
written for VII., just as in another place VIII. is written for
VI.32 Even so this figure does not square with the details of
the Geldroll, as Mr. Brooking Eowe has already pointed out.
He has accordingly put the sum total at 1029 hides, 1
virgate, 3 ferlings, which creates a fresh difficulty. He has
pointed out (p. xvi.) that in Fremington Hundred, where the
exempt lordships are stated to amount to 8 hides, 1 virgate,
2 ferlings, they really amount to 8 hides, 3 virgates, 2
ferlings, and that in Torington Hundred, where they are
stated to amount to 10 hides, they really amount to 10
hides, 1 virgate. In both these cases there can be little
doubt that he is right, because the figures thus corrected
tally with the details of the exempt lordships, and also make
the sum total of those Hundreds work out correctly, in
Fremington Hundred as 20, in Torington as 34| hides. His
suggestions with regard to Bampton and North Tawton
Hundreds are more open to question.

That there is a mistake somewhere in Bampton Hundred
is obvious. Mr. Brooking Rowe suggests (p. xxxvi.) that
7 hides, 3 virgates, 3 ferlings, should be substituted for
7 hides, 3 virgates, 2 ferlings, as the amount of the exempt
lordships. This suggestion, however, does not make the
sum total of the Hundred work out to 25 hides, as stated in
the Geldroll, and it introduces a small fraction of a virgate
into a Hundred total, for which there is otherwise no
precedent. If we suppose that the words " less 1 virgate "
have dropped out in the Hundred total, and assume that

n Under Plympton Hundred (pp. 10 to 11) the King is said to have received
£3 108. 8d. as his geld. Now the geld on 11} hides, at 6s. a hide, only
amounts to £3 10s. 6d., and since it is certain that more was not accounted
for than was due, it is obvious that viii. is an error for vi

THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDROLL. 177

some error has crept in in the particulars (not in the total)
of the exempt lordships, we shall find that the total for the
whole shire works out more easily. Perhaps we ought to
read 2 virgates, 2£ ferlings, instead of 2 virgates, 3£ ferlings,
for Walter de ClaviTs exemption,83 or 1 hide, 2£ ferlings,
instead of 1 hide, 3£ ferlings, for the Bishop of Coutances'
exemption.34

There is also an error somewhere in Heytor Hundred.
Either the particulars are right, and the exempt lordships
amount to 17 instead of 16 hides, and the total hides of the
Hundred are 51, not 50; or the totals, as they stand, are
right, and the error is in the particulars. I am disposed
to think that the error lies in the particulars, and that
probably Eichard Fitz Turold's, and certainly the Abbot
of Tavistock's, exemption should have been entered as \
instead of 1 hide. The substitution of 1 for \ is an error
which will be found elsewhere, and even in the Domesday

83 Walter de Clavil held Berlescome (No. 864, p. 831), assessed at 1 hide,
1} virgates, in Bampton Hundred. The lordship of this is stated to have
been assessed at 2 virgates, 1 ferling, so that 1J ferlings must be looked for
elsewhere to make up an exemption of 2 virgates, 2} ferlings. If Schipebroc
(No. 863, 831), which precedes Berlescome, and is assessed at 1 virgate,
with 1 ferling in the lordship, were in Bampton Hundred, we should nave
2 virgates, 2 ferlings, exempt in that Hundred. Riculf, under Walter,
is also said to have J ferling of lordship at FereortSin (No. 866, p. 833),
and if this should lie in Bampton Hundred, the necessary quantity will be
made np. At present I am unable to identify Schipebroc, or Fereorfein, with
places in Bampton Hundred, therefore attacn little value to this suggestion.

84 It would seem that the Hundred of Moll and, which is now united with
that of South Molton, was at the time of Domesday united with Bampton
Hundred. Uffculm, which is now united with Bampton, was then a
separate Hundred. For (1 ) it is impossible to account for the 24} hides
of Bampton Hundred, or for the Bishop of Coutances' exemption of 1 hide, 3J
ferlings, in that Hundred, except on this hypothsesis. (2) Domesday
expressly states (No. 65, p. 59) that to Holland belongs the third penny
of the three Hundreds of North Molton, Bampton, and Braunton, shewing
that Holland was the head of Bampton as well as of the other two Hundreds.
The Bishop of Coutances1 exemption in Bampton Hundred remains a
difficulty. The following may help to clear it up. The Bishop held (1)
Petton (i.e. Petit- town) or Little Bampton (Bedendone, No. 203, p. 185).
the lordship of which was assessed at £ hide. He also held (2) Holland
(No. 204, p. 187) in Holland Hundred, the lordship of which was assessed at
1 virgate. Also (3) Anestige (No. 205, p. 187), perhaps Henstndge in
Berry Narbor, and, if so, presumably also in Holland Hundred. (Berry
Narbor is still part of South Holton Hundred.) Anestige is stated to
be assessed at 1 virgate, 3 ferlings, of which 2} ferlings are in the lordship,
and 8£ ferlings the villagers have. Now 2& + 3& ferlings — 1 virgate, 2
ferlings only, and there is 1 ferling short. The collector becoming aware of
this deficiency, may possibly have altered 2J ferlings into 3£ ferlings for
the lordship, instead of looking for the missing ferling where it is more likely
to be found, in Fairleigh (No. 203, p. 183) probably a dependency of
Anestige. These estates make 3 virgates, 2} ferlings, of lordship. 1 virgate
still remains to be found.

178 THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDROLL.

text itself.86 For instance, Lege (No. 855, p. 823) i^ said
to be assessed at 1 hide less 1 virgate; but from the
particulars furnished by the Exeter Domesday, which give
the lordship as 2 virgates, the village land as 1J virgates,
it is clear that the scribe ought to have written 1 hide
less £ virgate.

It is not difficult to show that Richard Fitz Turold held
sufficient estates in Heytor Hundred to account for an exemp-
tion of 1 hide, provided they were all held by baronial tenure,
and were not subordinate to other baronial estates. Wood-
huish, in Brixham (No. 927, p. 893), assessed at 1 hide, and
Notsworthy, in Widdicombe-in-the-Moor (No. 928, p. 893),
assessed at 1 ferling, he held direct under the King. He
also held St. Mary Church (No. 359, p. 337), assessed at
1 hide, under the Earl of Mortain and Sparkwell, in
Staverton (No. 575, p. 547), assessed at £ hide, under
Baldwin. As regards the first-named estates, the Exeter
book does not contain particulars as to the amount in the

•

88 Among errors in the Domesday text, to which attention may be drawn,
are: (1) Under Liege (No. 270, p. 243), instead of "Terra est 1 carucae,"
we must read, with the Exeter Book, "Terra est x. carucis." (2) Under
Madford (No. 373, p. 351), instead of " Geldabat pro una virgate," we should
read, "pro dimidia virgata." For, according to the Exeter Book, 1 ferling
was in lordship, and the villagers had 1 ferling, making together 2 ferlings,
or £ virgate. From the list of particulars of the King's Ex minster (No. 5,
p. 6) it appears also that

The King had . . . .003 ferlings,

.020
.002
.001
.002

The Villagers
William de Ou
Battle Abbey
Leaving unaccounted for

»»
*t
t*

10 0

The J virgate unaccounted for is then, most probably, the } virgate of
Madford. (3) Under Selingeforde (No. 712, p. 681) the villagers are said
to have 1 hide, whereas it should be & hide. For William Capra, according
to the Exeter Book, had 1 hide, 1 virgate, in the lordship there, and the total
assessment was 1 hide, 3 virgates, leaving only 2 virgates, or i hide, for
the villagers. That the mistake lies in the villagers', and not in the lord's
assessment, may be shown, because William Capra is said in the Geldroll
(p. xxxvii.) to have 1 hide, 3 virgates, 1 ferling, exempt in Exminster
Hundred, and the only estates held by William Capra in Exminster Hundred
are :

Selingeforde, assessed at 1 8 0 of which 1 1 0 in the lordship.

Exminster ,, 100 ,, 020 „

Matford „ 0 0 2 „ 0 0 14

»»

Total in the lordships 1 3 14

It appears also that a few errors have crept in in transcribing the
Ansociation's Domesday, such as, Lwis (No. 1114, p. 1061) for I wis, Lweslei
(No. 856, p. 823) for lweslei, Ludeford (No. 1181, p. 1119) for Judeford,
Orescane (No. 971, p. 931) for Orescome.

THE DEVONSHIRE DOME8DAY AND THE GELDROLL. 179

lordship and the amount held by the villagers respectively,
but we may assume that the amount in the lordship was
at least 1 virgate. At St Mary Church, as we learn from
the Exeter book, the lordship included 2 virgates; at Spark-
well, 1 virgate. We can therefore account for 4 virgates, or
1 hide of lordship, amongst the four estates. For all that, it
may be doubted whether Richard Fitz Turold had any
baronial estate, except as under-tenant. Probably Woodhuish
was a dependency of St. Mary Church;86 Sparkwell of
Staverton, and Noteworthy a thane's land. St Mary
Church remains, and there the lordship was 2 virgates, or
i hida

With greater certainty it may be stated that the Abbot of
Tavistock had only £ hide, and not 1 hide, exempt in Heytor
Hundred. For the Abbey had only two holdings in that
Hundred. One of these, Denbury (No. 272, p. 245), was
assessed at \ hide, and the Abbot's lordship there amounted
to \ virgate. The other, Welle, or Coffinswell (No. 273,
p. 247),^ was assessed at 2 hides, but only \ hide was there
in lordship. Had the Abbot been allowed exemption in

M Under Fees held of the King, (24 Ed. I., a.d. 1295) in the Hundred of
Haytor appears the following (in C. Devon's MS., 24,770 in Brit Mas.,
p. 209) : "John de Cirencester holds Woodhywis for \ fee of St. Mary Church
of the fee of William de Cirencester. And the sd William holds St. Mary
Church with Woodhywis and Hoston, which is in the Hundred of
Stan borough, for 1 fee of Oliver de Dinham as of his honour of Cardinan
in fee Moreton. And the same Oliver holds of the Earl of Cornwall by
the same service, and the Earl of the King."

91 The Abbot of Tavistock's Welle (No. 273, p. 247) cannot be Morwell in
Milton Abbot, (1) because had Welle lain in Tavistock Hundred it would
have been enumerated after Tavistock, Lege, Lideltone, and other places
in Tavistock Hundred ; (2) because Morwell is a sub-manor under Tavistock,
and included under the Tavistock of Domesday, and (3) because unless Welle
is placed in Heytor Hundred there is no estate belonging to the Abbey
which can account for the Abbot's exempt lordship in Heytor Hundred.
(p. xl.)

Similarly it may be shewn that Ralph Paganel's Welle (No. 944, p. 907)
must also have lain in Heytor Hundred. For Ralph Paganel was allowed
exemptions for 1 virgate in Hai ridge Hundred, for 1 hide in Won ford
Hundred, for 1 hide in Teignbridge Hundred, and for 1 hide in Heytor
Hundred. His Domesday holdings, which must represent these, are
Dunchideock, in Exminster Hundred, assessed at 1 hide, of which i hide
was in the lordship ; Carsewelle, assessed at 2 hides, of which \ hide was in
the lordship ; Aire, assessed at 1 hide, of which 1 virgate was in the
lordship ; Tnrowleiffh, in Won ford Hundred, assessed at 1 hide, of which 1
virgate was in the lordship ; Chagford, in Wonford Hundred, assessed at
\ hide, of which £ hide was in the lordship ; Ilsington, in Teignbridge
Hundred, assessed at 2 hides, of which $ hide was in the lordship ; Ingsdon,
in Te Urn bridge Hundred, assessed at 2 hides, of which £ hide was in
the lordship ; West Exe, in Tiverton Hundred, assessed at 1 virgate ; Wash-
field, assessed at 1 virgate, and Wille assessed at 2 hides, of which 1 hide
was in the lordship. Of these places, either Carsewelle (Keshill), or Aire, or

180 THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELD ROLL.

respect of both, it could not have exceeded 2 virgates, 2
ferlings. We may safely conclude that the Abbot was
only allowed exemption in respect of Coffiinswell, and that
Denbury was a subordinate estate.

Mr. Brooking Eowe also suggests an error in North
Tawton Hundred (p. xxiii.). This, however, will, I believe,
turn out to be imaginary. For the 1 hide from which
Walter, the man of Walter de Clavil received the King's
geld, and failed to account for 12d. of it, was not an
additional hide, but one of the 33£ hides on which the
King's geld had been paid by those liable to pay it, and one

both most be in Hairidge Hundred, and Wille must be in Heytor Hundred.
Otherwise, Ralph's holdings in these two Hundreds would remain unac-
counted for.

Welle, or Wille, appears to have been the name of a district rather than
a place, and is not con6ned to these two estates. There are also two Cars
Will es, and one Well boro', or Whil bo rough, in the district The Abbot of
Tavistock's Welle had an extent of 824 acres, Ralph Paganel's Wille an
extent of 598. The present area of Coffinswell and Daccombe, which
represents one of these, is 1126 acres, that of Edginswell, together with
Shiphay and Welles Barton, about the same.

In Burton's list of fees, a.d. 1302, in MS. 28,649, under Haytor Hundred,
is the additional entry made by Burton himself [No. 177] : " It is found by
inquisition returned from the Exchequer of our Lord the King that
Eggersvil is held of the honour of Plyuiton, which John Ferrers now holds
by service of half a fee, which was concealed in the inquisition." In
Charles Devon's MS., 24,770, p. 272, Register of the fees of Hugh
Courtoey, 4 Ed. II. i.e., 1310 A.D., under the Hundred of Heytor, is
the following :

"Eggeneswell & Odeknoll which John de Ferrers & Reginald de
Remmesbiry hold [1 fee]."

In Prince's MS., 28,649, p. 485 (252), occur the following notices, which
shew that Coffinswell was held by the Abbot of Torre, of the Abbey of
Tavistock, through various mesne lords, of which the Spekes were ooe. (1)
" In the 30th year of King Henry son of King John [i.<?., a.d. 1245] the
Abbot of Tavistock, by reason of the minority of Richard le Speke took
a relief after the death of Jordan Daccumb " [of Daccumb and Wille]. (2)
" Richard de Espeke to all, &c. Know ye that I have granted to Osbert
Probus and Michael his brother the land which their father held of me
in Daccumb and Will, and I will that Michael and his heirs shall hold
it of me by service of 2 knights ... as peaceably as his brother William
held it on the day when he set forth for Jerusalem." (3) " Summary of an
instrument whereby William le Espeke lord of Wem worthy binds himself
under a penalty of £30 to confirm this grant." (4) Summary of an
instrument whereby Stephen de Baucen grants Wells Coffin to Thor Abbey
which he held by grant of Jordan de Daccomb ; and of another whereby
Jordan de Daccumb grants Daccumb to the same Abbey." On p. 487 (253)
other instruments are extracted : (5) " Extract of pleas of new disseisin in
the second year of King Edward the son of Edward, i.e., a.d. 1308, between
Robert de Scobhul and Roger de le Hull, heirs of Robert Coffin, lord of
Wells Coffin plaintiff and the Abbot of Thor defendant concerning the
whole manor of Wells Coffin in which by the good offices of friends the
afore8d abbot renounces all his right in the said manor to the said heirs " ;
and (6), "Summary of a grant of Wells to Thorr Abbey by Margaret daur.
ofSiward."

THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDROLL. 181

of the intermediaries had intercepted 12d. in transit to the
Exchequer.

In the case of Plympton Hundred there is, again, a mistake
somewhere. Probably the sum total of the Hundred assess-
ment is correctly stated, but in giving the details the scribe
has omitted some estate on which \ virgate was unpaid.
Perhaps William was in arrear on the \ virgate of Waliforde
(No. 688, p. 657) which he held under Judhel. Instances
of such omissions occur in other Hundreds, but they have
generally been inserted afterwards as interlineations.

In Wonford Hundred there is an ambiguous interlineation :
" And for one hide for which Roger Fitz Pagan paid his geld
in another Hundred, the King has the same geld in his
exchequer at Winchester." Does this mean that Roger Fitz
Pagan had a hide in Wonford Hundred for which he paid
geld elsewhere ? Or that he had a hide elsewhere for which
he paid geld in Wonford Hundred ?

The Geldroll gives 24 hides and 2 ferlings as the total
of the lordships exempt from payment in Wonford Hundred.
If we ignore Roger Fitz Pagan's hide, this amount exactly
tallies with the particulars. On this ground I should be
disposed to conclude that Roger Fitz Pagan's hide did not
lie in Wonford Hundred.

But there are stronger reasons. If Roger Fitz Pagan's
hide lay in Wonford Hundred, and was paid for in some
other Hundred, how comes it that this fact is not mentioned
in the accounts of the other Hundred ? Why should it be
mentioned in the accounts of Wonford Hundred ?

Again, if Roger Fitz Pagan's hide lay in Wonford Hundred,
we ought to be able to identify it there. But how stand the
facts ? In Domesday only three estates appear to have been
held by anyone of the name of Roger in Wonford Hundred.
One was Huxhani (No. 977, p. 939), held by Roger under
Ralph de Pomeray. This was assessed at Z\ virgates, of
which \\ were in the lordship. Who this Roger was we are
not told, but certain it is that Roger Fitz Pagan did hold in
another Hundred, that of Exminster, the estate of Peamore
(No. 959, p. 921), under Ralph de Pomeray. Another was
Hobbin, in East Ogwell (No. 1179, p. 1117), which a
Koger, who is called Roger the Stinger (aculeus), held under
Nicolas. This was assessed at 1 virgate. A third was
Bagtor, in Christow (No. 1180, p. 1119), which the same
Roger the Stinger also held under Nicolas. The extent of
the lord's assessment at Hobbin is not stated. At Bagtor it
is given as 1 ferling. Probably it was the same at Hobbin.

182 THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDROLL.

Now since the Geldroll definitely states that Roger, whom
it calls the Sandy (flavus), and distinguishes from Roger
Fitz Pagan, had 2 virgates exempt lordship in Wonford
Hundred, which neither the 1} virgates of Huxham alone,
nor the 2 ferlings of Hobbin and Bagtor alone can account
for, but which exactly tallies with the amount of the lord-
ship in the three holdings taken together, it follows that Roger
the Sandy and Roger the Stinger are one and the same
person, that he was a different person from Roger Fitz Pagan,
that he must have held all three of the estates named, and
that there is no estate left in Wonford Hundred which Roger
Fitz Pagan can have held.

The other alternative remains, according to which Roger
Fitz Pagan's hide lay in some other Hundred, and he paid
his geld for it to the King in Wonford Hundred. This
alternative is also borne out by the Domesday record, in
which it is stated that Roger Fitz Pagan holds Hanoch (No.
568, p. 541) in Teignbridge Hundred under Baldwin, and
that this estate was assessed in King Edward's time at 1
hide. All, then, that the interlined words introduced among
the exempt lands seem intended to convey is that on paying
in Wonford Hundred for 1 hide belonging to Teignbridge
Hundred, Roger Fitz Pagan had claimed the allowance to
which he was entitled in that Hundred. The sum total of
the paying and non- paying lands in Wonford Hundred
appears thus to have been 53£ hides, which, if we substitute
for 54, take 24£ hides for Bampton Hundred instead of 25,
and otherwise add up the totals as given in the Geldroll, we
obtain 1027£ hides as the total number for the whole county.

Before leaving that part of the Geldroll which deals with
Wonford Hundred, may I be permitted to draw attention to
an error which the translation of the last sentence might
seem to convey? The sentence as translated runs: "And
from the 3 hides, and 1 virgate, and 1 ferling from which
the Fegadri say that they received 20s. from William Hostio
and Radulf de Pomeroy, and set them free from the
obligation of carrying the geld to the King's Exchequer at
Winchester, the King has no geld." I would rather it had
been rendered : " And from 3 hides, 1 virgate, and 1 ferling
as to which the fee-gatherers say that they received the King's
pence — (the word denarios is used because the exact sum was
19s. 10 £d. — 20s. is only a rough interlineation) — and delivered
the same to William the Seneschal and Ralph de Pomeray,
who were under obligation to pay it in at the King's treasury
in Winchester, the King has not his geld." The former

THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDROLL. 183

translation seems to imply that William the Seneschal
(hostiarius, le Dispenser of later times) and Ealph de
Pomeray paid geld on 3 hides, 1 virgate, 1 ferling in
Wonford Hundred, whereas as a matter of fact they had no
such amount in that Hundred either jointly or severally.
William the Seneschal had nothing in that Hundred. Ralph
de Pomeray 's holdings were confined to three estates, viz,
East Ogwell (No. 975, 935) paying for 3 virgates, another
estate in East Ogwell (No. 976, p. 937) paying for 2 virgates,
and Huxham (No. 977, p. 939), which was held under him
by Roger the Stinger, these three together only paying for
1 hide, 1 virgate. What the words are really intended to con-
vey is that William the Seneschal and Ralph de Pomeray, who
were under obligation to transmit the King's geld on certain
estates to Winchester, had failed to pay in 19s. 10£d. The
fee-gatherers had paid it over to them, but they were in default.

B. Let us see, now, the figures in Domesday. If we
assume all the hides enumerated in Domesday in the county
to be co-ordinate, and add them together, we shall find that
they number close upon 1140. Besides these there are four
unhidated estates, viz., Axminster, Axmouth, Silverton, and
Bampton, but these are not included in the Geldroll. If
obvious re-duplications such as Newton St Cyres, first
enumerated as held of the bishop (No. 105, p. 99), and then
as held of the King (p. 1179) ; Clavil's Iweslie (No. 856,
p. 823), which was part of the King's Edeslege (No. 90,
p. 85) ; Lob twice mentioned (No. 9, p. 9, and No. 489,
p. 461) ; and Sedeborge, also twice mentioned (No. 439,
p. 413 and 1179), are left out of consideration, the total
number of hides is reduced to 1135 hides, 2i ferlings— an
amount which is some 10 per cent, in excess of the 1027£
hides according to the summary in the Geldroll.

The discrepancy appears still greater if we compare the
King's Domesday Estates with the King's exempt lordships
as enumerated in the Geldroll.38 The latter make up a total

* It may be here observed that the fact of the King's having a certain
amount of exempt lordship in any Hundred is by no means evidence that
the estates in respect of which the exemption was allowed were actually in
the King's hand at the time of the Domesday Survey. For the King had
no hidated estate in Axmouth Hundred at the time of the Survey, yet he
was allowed an exemption for 1 hide in the Geldroll. In Budleigh Hundred
the assessment of his estates amounted to 13$ hides, yet he was allowed 14
hides for his lordships only in that Hundred. In Hemyock Hundred the
assessment on the King's estates amounted to 2\ virgates, yet he was allowed
8J virgates for his lordships. In Lifton Hundred the assessment on his
estates amounts to 4 hide, yet he was allowed S hides for his lordships.
In Witherid^e Hundred, his assessment amounted to 1} virgates, yet he was
allowed 3} hides for his lordships.

184 THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDROLL.

of 141 bides, 2 virgates, 3 ferlings, the King having exempt
lordships in every Hundred except Crediton, Uffculm, and
Ottery. On the other hand, the sum total of the hides held
by the King, as given in Domesday, is 164 hides, 2 ferlings,
independently of the Church lands on his estates at Colyton
(No. 23, p. 21), Plympton (No. 29, p. 25), Yealmpton (No.
31, p. 27), Woodbury (No. 51, p. 45), and Pinhoe (No. 77,
p. 71), and the added or dependent estates at Witheridge
(No. 49, p. 43), King's Nympton (No. 75, p. 69), Sherford
(No. 53, p. 49), Blackpol (No. 65, p. 59), Boystock (No. 71,
p. 65), Irishcombe (No. 96, p. 89), and Ash (No. 45, p. 41),
i.e. 16 per cent, in excess of the total of the Geldroil. Of
this total number of hides, 47 hides, 1 virgate, and £ ferling,
are stated in Domesday to be the assessment of the King's
lordships; 109 hides, 1 virgate, 1£ ferlings, the assessment
of his villagers ; the remaining 7£ hides are either not
specially allotted between the lordship and the village, or not
specially accounted for. And here it is a remarkable fact,
whatever construction we may put upon it, or whatever
inference we may draw from it, that if the 109 hides, 1
virgate, If ferlings, which constitute the assessment upon
the King's villagers are deducted from the 1135 hides, 2J
ferlings which is the sum total of the hides in the county
of Devon, treating them all as co-ordinate, the remainder
1025 hides, 3 virgates, $ ferlings, suspiciously approximates
to the 1027J hides of the Geldroil. It looks as though the
Domesday total exceeded the Geldroil total just by the
amount of assessment on the King's villagers.

III. SUGGESTIONS TO EXPLAIN THE DISCREPANCY.

Mr. Eyton has already noticed a discrepancy between the
two records in the case of Dorset ; but from his observations
the discrepancy cannot be nearly so great in Dorset as in
Devon. To explain it, he makes two suggestions. (1) He
suggests that the assessment may have been sometimes
increased since the time of the Geldroil. (2) He thinks
that several estates may be enumerated in the Domesday
Survey which had hitherto escaped notice.

1. So far as Devonshire is concerned, neither of these
explanations seems satisfactory. It goes without dispute
that many estates had increased or decreased in value since
King Edward's death, and the Domesday record constantly
says, " It was worth so much," " It is worth so much now."
But variations in value since King Edward's time do not
necessarily involve variations in assessment either before or

THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDBOLL. 185

after that time. Variable as the assessment may have been
once upon a time, apparently, so far as Devonshire is con-
cerned, the assessment had become fixed and stereotyped
neally two centuries before King Edward's time. The small
subdivisions of the assessment- units in this county, and
their distribution among the several estates in small fractions
are simply inexplicable, except on the hypothesis that the
number of assessment-units was fixed and determined when
only a small number of Saxon homesteads existed in the
county. This hypothesis will also explain why the hides in
this county are so few, and in others so many.89 In some
counties, no doubt, the number of hides upon which estates
paid geld was extensively altered after the Conquest,
generally by way of decrease, not of increase,40 but then the
alteration is mentioned in Domesday. The Devonshire
Domesday does not, however, purport to give the assess-
ment in 1086, but that in 1066, "on the day on which King
Edward was alive and dead"; and, with one exception, it
mentions no change since. That exception is Mock ham, in
Charles (No. 480, p. 453), as to which the record runs:
" Mogescome, in King Edward's time, discharged itself in
the matter of geld, along with the last -mentioned estate
[i.e. Charles], by paying for 1 virgate of land; now they
are reckoned as 2 virgates." This entry is quite unique in
Devonshire, and probably only records some shifting of
liability from one estate to another, not an increase in
the total number of assessment-units. Had such changes

w To compare two parishes of about the same size. Sparsholt, in Berks,
contains 5844 acres, and six estates in it are mentioned in Domesday. The
KiDg had one estate of 1084 acres assessed at 16 hides, another estate of
1500 acres assessed at 10 hides. The Abbey of Abingdon had a third of 450
acres assessed at 10 hides. Henry de Ferrers had two estates, one of 100
acres, assessed at 1J hides, the other of 203 acres, assessed at 3| hides.
Lastly, Hascoit Musard had an estate of 400 acres, assessed at 2 hides. Two-
thirds of the parish are here accounted for, and the assessment upon them is
42| hides. Compare with this Woodbury, in Devon, which contains 5003
acres, and has three estates mentioned in Domesday. The King has one of
3890 acres assessed at 10 hides, Harvei de H el ion's wife another of 734 acres
assessed at 1 hide, 2 virgates, 2£ ferlings, and Donne a third of 609 acres
assessed at 1J hides. The whole parish is here accounted for, and the assess-
ment upon it is 13 hides, 2 J ferlings. And yet, for Devonshire, the assessment
of Woodbury is very high. See note 24.

40 The following instances are taken at haphazard from the Berkshire
Domesday. Gainge (No. 82, p. viii.), in King Edward's time, discharged
itself by paying for 10 hides, now for 2 hides and 1 virgate. Becot (No. 97,
p. ix.), in King Edward's time, for 5 hides, now for 2 hides, 4 acres. Henley
(No. 97, p. ix.), in King Edward's time, for 6 hides, now for 2. Whiteham
(No. 108, p. ix.), in King Edward's time, for 20 hides, now for 13 hides, 1
virgate.

VOL. XX VII. O

186 THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDROLL.

been made, it is inconceivable that they should not have
been mentioned in this, as in other counties.

2. The same expression, " This estate paid for so much on
the day on which King Edward was alive and dead," also
excludes the theory that in Domesday many estates are
brought into account which had previously escaped notice.41
A few estates may, indeed, be found in which hides and
virgates are mentioned without the words that this was the
amount of their assessment "in King Edward's time." These
words may have been omitted intentionally in those cases, or
only by accident Suppose we exclude them from our
calculations, there will still remain, if we treat all the hides
enumerated as co-ordinate, some 1130 hides which are said
to have paid geld in King Edward's time, whereas from the
Geldroll there appear to have been fewer than 1030 pay-
ing, or excused from paying, in the county.

3. The conclusion which suggests itself from the above is
that the hides enumerated in Domesday are not all
co-ordinate, but that the hides are often enumerated twice
over; first as the assessment of some subordinate estate,
and then included in the assessment of the chief estate
to which it was subordinate; in short, that when an estate
was held of another, and the payment of the King's geld
was made through another estate, the amount of the assess-
ment charged upon the dependent estate is not additional to,
but included in, that of the chief estate. I proceed to give
some instances in support of this conclusion : —

A. Passages in the Exeter Book shew that, in some cases
of tenure by Knight-service, the assessment of the sub-
ordinate estate is given over again, after being already
included in the total of the chief estate. "The Abbot of
Tavistock," it runs (No. 253, p. 228), " has an estate called
Tavistock, which in King Edward's time paid geld for
3£ hides. . . . Thereof the Abbot has \ hide in the lordship,
and the villagers have \\ hides." This accounts for 2 hides
out of 3 \. It then continues : " Of these 3 \ hides, 6

41 I very much doubt whether the dependency of Eastleigh (No. 711]
p. 681), the land of William Capra, can be said to have escaped notice before,
as to which Domesday has the following: "To this estate [viz. Eastleigh,
belongs half a virgate of land, and it is concealed so that the King has no
geld Iroin it." The words rather imply that it did pay geld in King
Edward's time, but not at the time of the Domesday Survey, because it
could not be identified. William Capra's exemption in Freroington Hundred
(xvi.) is made up as follows: In respect of Huniseue (No. 709, p. 678) 1
virgate ; in respect of Lei {Eastleigh^ No. 710, p. 680) 4 virgate ; in respect
of the lost land the whole assessment (No. 711, p. 680) \ virgate. Total —
2 virgates.

THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDROLL. 187

military tenants hold 1J hides," the particulars of which
follow. From this statement we see that 6 military tenants,
in the quantities enumerated, held the 1£ hides before
unaccounted for. Their assessment is therefore unquestion-
ably included in the assessment of the chief estate. There
is no indication of this in the Exchequer Domesday.

Again, the Exeter Book says : " The Abbot has an estate
called Hatherleigh (No. 258, p. 235) which, in King
Edward's time, paid for 3 hides. . . . Thereof the Abbot has
in the lordship £ hide . . . and the villagers H hides."
Thus 2 hides out of the 3 are accounted for. It continues :
"Of this land Nigel holds £ virgate less \ ferling, Walter
2 J virgates, Goisfrid \ virgate and £ ferling, Balph £ virgate."
These subordinate holdings amount exactly to 1 hide, not
an additional hide, but a hide already included in the 3 hides
of the chief estate.42

Battery, again (No. 769, p. 737), is stated to pay for 3
hides, but when the particulars are looked at in the Exeter
Book, it appears that William de Faleise himself only paid
for 1 hide, and his villagers for 1 hide, 1£ virgates. Two and
a half virgates are thus not accounted for. "There," con-
tinues the Exeter Book, " 2 military tenants have a virgate
and a half. . . . And a certain Englishman holds thereof 1
virgate, which he himself held on the day on which King
Edward was alive and dead." The assessment on these
subordinate holdings together amounts exactly to the miss-
ing quantity, and is therefore already included in the
assessment of the chief estate.

B. If estates held by military service are thus found
included in the assessment of the chief estate, much more so
is this the case with estates held in free socage, or in
perpetual farm.43 The clearest instance of such inclusion

42 It seems probable that although the phrase " held of this estate " means
included in its assessment, it does not mean included in the acreage given of
it No doubt, at Tavistock, where there was sufficient land for 40 ploughs,
and the Abbot had only 5, and his villagers 14, there was plenty of room in
the area so described for the 6 ploughs of the military tenants. Still, it
must be remembered that the area of Tavistock is described as only 5256 acres,
whereas the parish contains 13,982 acres. It is, therefore, more probable that
the estates of the military tenants lay outside the 5256, which constituted
the agricultural-unit of the Abbey, and formed separate agricultural-units by
themselves. The existence of four subordinate manors within the parish —
those of Morwell, Ogbear, Passmore, and Blanchdown — confirms this view.
These probably represent the holdings of some of the thanes to whom the
six military tenants succeeded. Wick Dabernon is probably the land of
another. '

49 In Oliver's Afonastiton, p. 156, the Abbey of Bee granted Christow to
St Andrew's Priory in perpetual farm.

o 2

1£8 THE DEYOSSHIRB DOMESDAY A2JD THE GILDROLL.

will be found in Odo Fitz-Gamelin's estate of Toritone
(No. 1117, p 1063). That Odo Fitz-Gamelin's Toritone
most be Great Torington in Fremington Hundred, can, I
think, be proved beyond dispute by the following con-
siderations: (1) The Hundred Rolls group together as
contributories to Fremington Hundred, Great Torington,
and Iittlewear, and in Domesday Littlewear is said to be
appurtenant44 to Odo's Toritone. (2) We know from the Geld-
roll (p. xvi.) that Odo Fitz-Gamelin had an exempt lordship
of 3 virgates in Fremington Hundred, and that his villagers
were in arrear on 1 hide in the same Hundred. Both of
these statements agree with the particulars of Odo's Toritone
as given in the Exeter Book, and are not fulfilled by any
other estate which Odo appears possessed of in Domesday.

The estate of Toritone was a large one, containing some
4560 acres. It included not only the present parish of Great
Torington (the acreage of which is 3-456), but also the
greater part of St. Giles'-in-the-Wood (the acreage of which
is 4827). The assessment on this estate and its depen-
dencies was 3A hides. Thereof, the Exeter Book informs us,
" Odo has 3 virgates in the lordship, and the villagers have
2 hides," so that 2\ hides are thus accounted for, and 3
virgates left unaccounted for. It continues : " Of the aforesaid
3£ hides, 3 franklings have 3 virgates. Goscelm holds one of
these virgates, and it is worth 15s. a year; Walter another,
and it is worth 15s. ; and Ansger a third, and it is also
worth 15s."

44 Mr. King, in Trans, vii. 37, and Mr. Davidson, in Trans, viii. 399,
have sufficiently shewn that Toritone is the tun on the Tone (pronounced
Toridge). Domesday enumerates several Toritones, and also one Toridge-hayes
(Torsewis). In the rendering of Adjacet the translators seem to have taken
considerable liberty. Under Tiverton (p. xxv.) and South Tawton (No. 44,
p. 41) they have rendered it " Is adjacent." Under Slapeford (No. 96, p. 84)
** Is annexed to." and the same rendering is used in regard to a fishery at
Sideford (No. 87, p. 81). Under Seteborge (No. 439, p. 413) and Kenn
(No. 464, p. 439) it appears as " Was joined to," ana under Scobecome
(No. 1132, p. 1073) as " Lay adjoining.11 None of these renderings seem to
give the real meaning of the word. It cannot mean " Is adjacent to " ; for
the burgesses of Exeter were not adjacent to Kenn. Neither is Scobecome
adjacent to Broadhembury, whether we identify it with Shapcombe, in
Luppitt, or, as seems more probable, with the Combe of many names —
Combe Raleigh. Nor is Irisncombe, which lies near Meshaw, adjacent to
Lapford. The technical meaning of Adjacet is, to use an expression of the
Exeter Book, " lying in another estate " for purposes of jurisdiction and
assessment but not geographically, i.e. forming part of the tithing or unit
responsible for the King's peace, without being part of the township or ham
which constituted the agricultural-unit. With regard to Combe Raleigh,
Prebendary Hingeston- Randolph informs me that, in addition to its other
names, Combe Coffin, Combe Baunton, Combe next Honiton, it is also called
Byschopscombe, of which Scobecome may be an abbreviation.

THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDROLL. 189

If we now turn to Domesday, we find that Goscelm holds
Dodecote (Dodscot in St. Giles', No. 870, p. 839), which is
assessed at 1 virgate, and stated to be worth 15s. We have
therefore, in Dodscot, Goscelm's 1 virgate held of Odo's
estate of Great Torington. Similarly, Walter de Clavil
holds Instow (No. 860, p. 827), an estate assessed at 1
virgate, and worth 15s. We have, therefore, in Instow,
not far from Great Torington, and in the same Hundred,
Walter's 1 virgate, held of Odo's estate of Great Torington.
Lastly, Ansger de Montacute (or, as he is elsewhere called,
Ansger de Pont Senard) holds Toritone (No. 1102, p. 1049),
an estate 1 virgate in extent, and valued at 15s. We
have, therefore, in Toritone — which, if it is not in Little
Torington, may be Kingscot in St. Giles', since it lies on
the Torridge — Ansger's 1 virgate held of Odo's estate of
Great Torington.46 The 3 virgates of these 3 estates appear,
therefore, twice over in Domesday, first as forming part of the
assessment of Odo's Toritone, and then separately under the
names of their respective holders.

This is, perhaps, the clearest entry. There are, however,
a number of cases in which the amount held in the lordship
and the amount held by the villagers, when added together,
do not exhaust the total of the assessment. In these cases
we may, I think, well infer that the missing amount repre-
sents some smaller estate held of the chief estate in perpetual
farm. Unless, therefore, the missing amount is deducted
from the assessment of the chief estate, when adding up the
totals, the assessment of the smaller estate will be reckoned
twice over. For instance, North Lew (No. 83, p. 77) is said
to be assessed at 1 hide, 1 virgate, and 1 ferling, whereof,
as the Exeter Book informs us, the King has 1 virgate in
his lordship, and the villagers have 1 hide. One ferling is
thus left unaccounted for. The text does not continue as it

48 We have thus Great Torington (No. 1117, p. 1063) containing 4560 acres.

Dodscote (No. 870, p. 839) containing 176 ,,

Possibly Kingscot (Toritone, No. 1102, p. 1049) containing 204 „

Littlewear (No. 1116, p. 1063) containing 404 „

5344

to represent the two parishes of Great Torington and St Giles'-in-the-Wood,
containing together 8283 acres. According to Dr. Colby, in Trans, vii. 92 St.
Giles1 Chnrch was built in 1309, the whole district having been previously
included in Torington. Ansger is called Ansger de Pont Senard, in the
Geldroll. p. xxil, and that this is the same person as Ansger de Montacute
is proved by the entry among the terra oecupatae in the Exeter Domesday :
u Ansger de Senarpont holds Chadeledon " (No. 1104, p. 1051), to which
another Chadeledon has been added. He is also called Ansger the Briton
(No. 323 p. 300).

190 THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDROLL.

well might have done : " Of the land of this estate Baldwin
holds 1 ferling, and it is worth 5s., and Bernard holds it
of Baldwin." For we know from another place in Domesday
that Gorhuish, or as we should now call it, Gorse hayes (No.
430, p. 403), which lies in North Lew parish, was held by
Bernard under Baldwin, and that it was assessed at 1 ferling.
Can we then be wrong in finding the missing ferling in
Gorhuish ? If, so the assessment of Gorhuish appears twice
over in Domesday.

Under North Tawton Hundred, the Geldroll (p. xxiii.)
informs us that " for half a hide, which lies in the Manor
of Winkleigh, the King had no geld." Where was this half
hide ? Domesday mentions two estates at Leusdon, within
the parish of Winkleigh, one held by Walter de Clavil (No.
859, p. 825), assessed at half a hide ; the other held by
Goscelm (No. 872, p. 841), also assessed at half a hide. The
latter of these estates is probably the one referred to. The
assessment of the whole Manor of Winkleigh has been
already given (No. 92, p. 85). If we, then, treat the assess-
ment of Leusdon as though it were co-ordinate, we get that
assessment reckoned twice over. Possibly the same is true
of Walter de ClaviTs Leusdon.

Again, Ashcombe (No. 957, p. 919), together with three
other thanes' estates in Exminster Hundred, is stated in
Domesday to be assessed at 2 hides. Thereof, as the Exeter
Book informs us, £ hide was in the lordship, the villagers
had \ hide, leaving 1 hide unaccounted for. Three virgates
of this 1 hide seem to be represented by the estates of Hole-
come (No. 958, p. 921) ™ Peamore (No. 959, p. 921), and

46 Dr. Lake, in Trans, vi. 381, states that a portion of the Den at Teign-
mouth, which he distinguishes from the Manor of Teign mouth Courtney,
was held by the Courtneys as part of their Manor of Kenton. Mr. David-
son, in Tram. xiii. 14, repeats this on the authority of Dr. Lake, and
(p. 130) identifies Holecome with Teignmouth Courtney. Dr. Lake had such
opportunities of local knowledge, that one hesitates to question any state-
ment made by him. Yet the language of Domesday seems to connect
Holecome with Ashcombe, and the Survey of Kenton Manor makes no
reference to any part of Teignmouth. Is it not possible that both Briinley
and Teignmouth Courtney may be sub-manors of aftercreation, not
mentioned in Domesday ? The point seems set at rest by the After Death
Inquests of 1 Hen. VI No. 63, which, among the fees of ** Hugo Courtney
qui obiit King Hen. IV." enumerate " Holcombe in Exminster. In Donn's
map of Devon, published 1765, on a small stream in the southern part of
Exminster appear the words "Old Saltworks." As the chief feature of
this Domesday Holcombe was its salt-works (for its extent was only 100 acres),
can there be a doubt that we have here in Exminster, rather than in
Teignmouth or in Dawlish (correcting what has been said in Trans, xxvi.
152), Hugh de Courtney's Holcombe in Exminster, and the Holecome of
Domesday held by Pomeray ?

THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDROLL. 191

Bowhays (No. 960, p. 921), all three within the parish of
Exminster. The fourth virgate may possibly be Scapelie
(No. 471, p. 445). But wherever it is placed, we have the
assessment of these minor estates given twice over; first,
when they are themselves described, and again in the
description of the chief estate.

Longford, in Collumpton (No. 508, p. 479), is in Domesday
said to be assessed at 1 hide 3 virgates, of which, according
to the Exeter Book, 3 virgates were in the lordship, and the
villagers paid for three. One virgate is, therefore, left un-
accounted for. If this, as seems probable, is the adjoining
estate of Wide Heathfield (No. 345, p. 325) in Collumpton,
held by Alured under the Earl of Mortain, the assessment of
this estate also appears twice over.

Bradninch (No. 736, p. 707) is described as having an
assessment of 2\ hides, of which £-hide was in the lordship,
and the villagers had \\ hides. Half a hide is, therefore,
unaccounted for. If, as seems most likely, this \ hide is
represented by Bernardesmore (No. 517, p. 487), an estate of
312 acres, in Bradninch parish, held by Kogo under
Baldwin, we have yet another instance of a twice-repeated
assessment.

Rashleigh (No. 337, p. 315) in the parish of Wemb-
worthy is described as assessed at 2 virgates, of which 1
ferling was in the lordship, and the villagers had 3 ferlings.
One virgate is, therefore, left unaccounted for. This virgate
seems to be Wembworthy (No. 336, p. 315). For these two
estates were closely connected. The Exeter Book groups
them together in the note which it appends : u These two
barton lands were discharged (from servile duties) on the day
on which King Edward was alive and dead." Unless we
deduct from Bashleigh the 1 virgate which forms the
assessment of Wembworthy, we have again the same
assessment given twice over.

Of one estate, that of Greenslade (No. 462, p. 437), in
the parish of North Tawton, in which one-half of the total
assessment is not accounted for, we are distinctly told what
has become of it. Greenslade, says Domesday, paid for
1 virgate, i.e. for 2 ferlings. The Exeter Book then tells
us that \ ferling was in the lordship, and the villagers had
A ferling. Thus 1 ferling is accounted for. What became of
the other ferling ? "A moiety," it continues, " of the afore-
said half virgate [i.e., 1 ferling] has been added to the King's
lordship-barton of North Tawton."

Northmolton (No. 42, p. 39) is, in Domesday, stated to

192 THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDROLL.

pay for 1 hide, 2 virgates ; but when the particulars in the
Exeter Book are referred to, the King, it is found, pays on
the lordship for 1 virgate, and the villagers for 3& virgates.
Only 1 hide and half a virgate are thus accounted for. Shall
we be wrong if we find the missing \\ virgates in Polham
(No. 1033, p. 993) assessed at 1 virgate, and Plantelie (No.
1034, p. 993) assessed at \ virgate, both within the parish of
Northmolton and held by Rainald, under Ruald Adobed?
If so, unless we deduct 1£ virgates from the assessment of
Northmolton before adding up the quantities, the assessment
of these two estates will be found to have been enumerated
twice over in Domesday,

Again, South Tawton (No. 44, p. 41) is stated to be
assessed at 3 hides 1 virgate, whereof the King has £ hide
in the lordship, and the villagers 1£ hides and a ferling.
Two hides 1 ferling are thus accounted for. One hide and
3 ferlings remain unaccounted for. These will be found (1)
in South Zeal (Donicestone, No. 375, p. 353) 47 assessed at
3 virgates 2\ ferlings, and held by the Earl of Mortain ; and
(2) in Shapley (No. 1153, p. 1093), assessed at 1 virgate
1 ferling, and held by Girold, the Chaplain. The two
together amount to 1 hide 3£ ferlings, which tallies within
a fraction of a ferling with the missing quantity — and we
have seen a fraction of a ferling disregarded in another case,
that of Tavistock.48 That South Zeal was held under
South Tawton is natural enough. That Girold's Shapley
was held under South Tawton, might seem a mere guess,
were it not for the note appended to it in Domesday:
" Shapley, rendered by custom to the lordship barton, which
is called [South] Tawton 10s. ; but since Girold has held it,
the King has not had his custom therefrom."

Torintone, again (No. 440, p. 413), which from its position
between Parkham and Heanton Satchville, it may be con-

47 See Trans, xxvi. 163, for the identification of Donicestone. According
to the After Death Inquests (48 Hen. III. p. 27), Roger de Thony died in
1263 a.d., seized of Sutanton Manerium, Terra de la Sale.

48 The details of the Military Tenants' Holdings are given under No. 253,
p. 230, as follows :

Ermenald

. 0

2 ferlings

Ralph

. 0

2 „

Hugo

. 0

2J „

Robert

. 0

Ralph de la Tillaie .

. 0

3 „

Gostrid

. 0

1 „

Total . . .12 0}

Yet, in the text, it is described as one hide and a-half, the fraction being
disregarded.

THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDROLL. 193

eluded, lay in Shebbear Hundred, and is, therefore, Little
Torington — this is placed beyond dispute by the occurrence
of Torington with other places in Shebbear Hundred
among the fees of Hugh de Courtney {After Death Inquests,
1 Hen. VI., No. 63) — is described as being assessed at 1 hide
1 virgate. Thereof, as we learn from the Exeter Book, 1
virgate was in the lordship, and the villagers had 3 virgates.
This leaves 1 virgate unaccounted for. Shall we be wrong
if we suppose this virgate to be represented by Frizenham in
Little Torington (No. 344, p. 323), an estate of 321 J acres,
which Aiured held under the Earl of Mortain, the Earl
being the great land-grabber of village lands in this county I40
If so, we have again the assessment of Frizenham given
twice over.

Once more, Olvereworfc, or Woolfardisworthy (No. 1218, p.
1153), in Hartland Hundred, held by Coluin, is stated to be
assessed at half a hide, or 2 virgates. But when we look at
the particulars, only 1 virgate is accounted for by Olvere-
woril itself, 1 ferling being in the lordship, and 3 ferlings
being held by the villagers. We must, therefore, look else-
where for the missing virgate. From the Geldroll (p. xiv.),
however, we learn that Coluin had an exemption of 2 ferlings
in Hartland Hundred. It follows that the missing virgate
must be looked for in some other estate, held by Coluin him-
self, where also 1 ferling was in the lordship. Only three
such places are mentioned in Domesday; for Ulvelie (No.
447, p. 421) also held by Coluin under Baldwin is clearly
in Shebbear Hundred. The three are Denes berge (No. 1219,
p. 1153), which follows Olvereword, Han tone (No. 1222,
p. 1155), which occurs a few entries later, and Almerescote
(No. 1113, p. 1061), which Coluin held under Odo Fitz-
Gamelin. The question is, which of these three lay in
Hartland Hundred ?

48 Under the King's estate of Ermyngton (No. 36, p. 31) appears this
entry : " The Earl of Mortain's liegemen hold these [subordinate] lands, and
they withhold the King's customs." Under Lifton (No. 39, p. 35) : " To
this estate belonged 2 lands in King Edward's time ; the Earl of Mortain
holds them." Under Werrington (No. 56, p. 51): " Of this land the fcarl
of Mortain holds 4 hide, which in King Edward's time belonged there."
Under Beer (No. 293, p. 265) : " From this estate has been niched 1 ferling
of land and 4 salterns ; Drogo holds them of the Earl of Mortain." Under
Dunsdon in Pancras-week (No. 949. p. 911): "From these 3 virgates 1
virgate has been filched ; this the Earl of Mortain holds." Under Wear
Giffard (No. 1021, p. 981) : " Of the same estate the Karl of Mortain holds
1 virgate of land.' As appears from the Exeter Book, this £ virgate was
part of the villagers' land. See also the case of Wide Heathfield, in
Collampton, already mentioned.

194 THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDROLL.

We may at once put Hantone aside, because, as Olvere-
word lies in Hartland Hundred, we shall not be justified in
placing Hantone in the same Hundred, unless all the in-
tervening places, including Denesberge, lie in Hartland
Hundred ; and we can certainly say that this is not the case,
because Coluin had, according to the Geldroll (p. xviiL), a
whole virgate exempt in Shebbear Hundred, towards which
Alesland (No. 1220, p. 1155) supplies 2 ferlings, Hantone
probably another ferling (although this is not definitely stated),
and Uluelie the remaining ferling in Shebbear Hundred.

Mr. Worth places Almerescote in Hartland Hundred by
identifying it with Elmscot in Hartland, and Denesberge in
Shebbear Hundred by identifying it with Dunsbere in
Merton. The objections to these identifications are : (1)
that they make the total assessment of the Hundred of
Hartland fall short by 1 J, or at least by 1 virgate of the total
amount stated in the Geldroll ; (2) that they place a burge, or
berry, in the low-lying ground of Merton ; and (3) that they
leave no estate to represent Odo's exemption in Hartland
Hundred.60 If we identify Denesberge with Tosberry in
Hartland, or Ditchen Hills in Clovelly, both of which are in
Hartland Hundred, and Almerescote with Alscot, a detached
part of the parish of Langtree, in Shebbear Hundred, these
objections are disposed of,*and Coluin's estates are so identi-
fied as to account for his 2 ferlings exempt in Hartland
Hundred, and his 1 virgate exempt in Shebbear Hundred.
But whatsoever identification is adopted, the assessment of
his second estate in Hartland Hundred is given twice over.

Let us assume that our former identification was wrong,
and that Almerescote lies in Hartland Hundred, and since
Almerescote is assessed at only 1 virgate, let us suppose, to
make up the quantity, that Ansgot's Ferlie (No. 1246, p.
1177) assessed at \ virgate, is Velley in Hartland Hundred.
In that case, (1) we shall still be 1 virgate short of the Hun-
dred total, because the 1 virgate of Almerescote is already
included in the \ hide of Olvereword. (2) We shall have no
estate left in Hartland Hundred to represent the 1 virgate on
which Odo himself was allowed exemption, and the \ virgate
on which his villagers were in arrear in Hartland Hundred,

50 The sequence of Odo Fitz-Gamelin's estates is as follows : " Staford (in
Liftoo Hundred), Almerescote, Iwis (in Shebbear Hundred), Litelwere, Tori-
tone (in Freraington Hundred), Bocheland, Willedene (in Braunton Hun-
dred). In Trans, xxvi. 417, Bocheland has been identified with Beckland
in Hartland Hundred, assessed at 1£ virgates. If we are right in so doing,
Almerescote cannot lie also in Hartland Hundred, unless the intervening
places lie there also, which is clearly not the case.

THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDROLL. 195

because if Almerescote lies in Hartland Hundred, Bocheland
cannot lie there also. The conclusion seems inevitable that
Almerescote is in Shebbear, and Bocheland in Hartland
Hundred. We have then 1 ferling the lordship of Olvereword,
and 1 ferling the lordship of Denesberge, to account for
Coluin's 2 ferlings exempt in Hartland Hundred; and we
have the 2 ferlings of Hasland, the 1 ferling of West
Heanton, and the 1 ferling of Uluelie to account for Coluin's
1 virgate exempt in Shebbear Hundred.

C. If we have found several instances of the assessment
of estates held by knight-service being included in the
assessment of the estates under which they were held,
and more instances of the assessment of estates held in
free socage, or in perpetual farm being given twice over,
what shall we say in regard to estates actually carved out
of village lands ? The assessment of these must, a fortiori,
have been included in that of the chief estate. For a cotlif,
barton-estate, or estate of bocland, as it existed in the tenth
century, always consisted of two parts, and was not complete
without both — one, the barton and home farm which belonged
to the lordship, and was held by the lord or his farmer ; the
other which belonged to the village, and was occupied by the
villagers subject to the obligation of cutivating the lord's
land.61 Perhaps the essential difference between alodial
land and bocland may have been this, that the holder
of alodial land had to cultivate it himself, whereas' the
holder of bocland had the services of the villagers to
cultivate it for him. In days when there was little
money the village-land was, as it were, the capital for
cultivating the lord's land. The conversion of alodial land
into bocland may in some places have been the result
of Conquest, yet it seems also to have been deliberately
adopted among the free Saxons. By a wise division of
labour, some did military duties as the King's thanes,
whilst others cultivated their land for them. But there
may have been this difference between bocland when it
was the result of voluntary arrangement, and bocland when
it was the result of Conquest, that in the former case —
and that is the case of the home counties — the villagers'

51 The term Cotlif will be found used by A$elstan, who, as stated by
Davidson in Trans, xiii. 119, endowed the Church of St. Mary and St
Peter's with twenty-six cotlifs, among them being enumerated Topsham,
Monkaton, Stoke Cannon, and Culmstock. The relations of lord, villagers,
and serfs to the land are severally described in Domesday by saying that the
lord holds (tenet) an estate, villagers occupy (habent) the village land, and
serfs dwell upon it (manere in). See p. 178 of Domesday.

196 THE DEVO>SHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDROLL.

and the lords' land lay interspersed, showing that the lord
was only a villager, exalted by the favour of the Sovereign,
and the election of his fellow- villagers ; whereas in the latter
case — and this is the case of Devonshire — the villagers culti-
vated lands apart by themselves in some trick, cot, or ham,
and the lord's sele and lordship-land lay by themselves away
from the land of the villagers.

Grants appear to have been frequently made out of such
village lands after the Conquest,52 and when thus made the
assessment is still quoted as forming part of the chief estate.
An instance of this may be seen at Halberton (No. 100,
p. 93). Halberton, it is said, paid geld for 5 hides. . . .
Thereof the King has H hides ... in the lordship, and
the villagers have 3i hides. These two amounts exhaust
the total. The Exeter Book, however, continues: And of
these five hides Goscelm has one virgate of land, viz., of
the villagers1 land . . . and it contributed 10s. to the food-
rent paid by Halberton. Here Goscelm, elsewhere called
a frankling, is distinctly said to have an estate carved out
of the villagers' land, the assessment of which is already
included in the villagers' land of Halberton. If, as seems
probable, this virgate of land is Goscelm 's estate of Wool-
stancot (No. 893, p. 863), so called after the Woolstan who
held it before the Conquest, we have another case of a twice-
repeated assessment, and also evidence that Woolstancot had
been taken out of the village-land to form a separate estate
in Saxon times. This estate seems, probably, to be that
now called Boycot. To the Exeter Book we are indebted
for information as to the source whence Goscelm's estate
was derived. In how many other cases may not the same
thing have happened, but no Hundred jury presented it, nor
Domesday scribe recorded it ?

4. There is, however, I believe, another circumstance to be
remembered, which will diminish the apparent difference
between the totals of Domesday and the Geldroll, viz., that
the Hundreds, of which the Geldroll contains a list, do not
exhaust all the Hundreds of the County. To put it otherwise,
besides the greater Hundreds, which are generally spoken of
as Hundreds, there appear to have been several lesser Hun-
dreds, which usually went by the name of Ancient Demesne
of the Crown, and are not included in the Geldroll at all.

M In the Berkshire Domesday (No. 54, p. 6) appears this entry under
Curanor: "In Wintehara [Whiteham] Hubert holds of the Abbot
[of Abingdon] five hides taken out of t)u villagers' land. Cases in which
the villagers were dispossessed are mentioned in the Hundred Rolls. See
Trans, xxvi. 141, n. 8."

THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDROLL. 197

This will be seen by reference to John Hooker's list of con-
tributories to tenths and fifteenths, in Harlean MS. 5837, in
the British Museum. From internal evidence, John Hooker
must have had at least two much more ancient lists before
him from which he compiled the one which now exists in bis
handwriting. He often failed to see that two places were
the same when they were spelt differently, and hence many
names appear twice over. One of the lists from which he
copied appears to have contained the amounts paid for tenths
and fifteenths, and the other not63

Now, the Hundreds contained in Hooker's list are the

following : (1) Wonford, with 72 names of contributories ;

(2) Hemyock, with 9 ; (3) Axminster, with 13 ; (4) Axmouth,

with 10 ; (5) East Budleigh, with 29 ; (6) Clyston, with 11 ;

(7) Colyton, with 15; (8) Hairidge, with 24; (9) Colridge,

with 28 ; (10) Stanborough, with 32 ; (11) Ermyngton, with

30 ; (12) Plimton, with 25 ; (13) Roborough, with 22 ; (14)

Tavistock, with 3 ; (15) Exminster, with 29 ; (16) Heytor,

with 40 ; (17) Teignbridge, with 20 ; (18) Lifton, with 21 ;

(19) Hartland, with 7 ; (20) Blacktorington, with 46 ; (21)

Braunton, with 41 ; (22) Fremington, with 15 ; (23) Sher-

well, with 17 ; (24) Shebbeare, with 26 ; (25) South Molton,

which includes Molland and North Molton, with 30 ; (26)

North Tawton, with 34; (27) Witheridge, with 24; (28)

Tiverton, with 15 ; (29) Halberton, with 13 ; (30) Bampton,

with 9 ; (31) Crediton, with 22 ; (32) West Budleigh, with

18 ; besides 3 Hundreds consisting of a single contributory,

viz., (33) Bansecombe, if I have read the first letter right,

which is named between Hemyock and Axminster Hundreds

and appears to be Branscombe ; (34) Ottery Mary, which is

named between Clyston and Colyton Hundreds; and (35)

Winkleigh, which is named between Witheridge and Tiverton

Hundreds.

In addition to these Hundreds, after Teignbridge Hun-
dred appears another list of contributories, viz., (1)
Ancient Demesne of Brampton (i.e. Braunton, in Domesday,
No. 8, p. 7) ; (2) Ancient Demesne of Shebbeare (in Domes-
day, No. 60, p. 55) ; (3) Ancient Demesne of Delyston —
clearly Lyston is meant (in Domesday, No. 38, p. 35); (4)
Ancient Demesne of Southinge64; (5) Ancient Demesne of

83 Mr. Davidson's observations in Trans, viii. 404.

94 Possibly Southinge may be distinct from the Hundred of Halford,
mentioned in the Hundred Rolls of 3 Ed. I. a.d. 1274 (See Traits, xxvi.
146, note 8), in Domesday Alforde (No. 742, p. 711) to which Mildedone was
appurtenant, i.e. Halford in Sampford Courtney, and Meldon in Chagford
{Trans, viii. 64). In C. Devon's MSS. 24,774, p. 167, the accounts of Thomas

198 THE DEVONSHIRE DOMESDAY AND THE GELDROLL.

Northam, (in Domesday, No. 303, p. 280); and again a second
list after West Budleigh, Hundred consisting of (6) Ancient
Demesne of South Tawton,55 (in Domesday, No. 44, p. 41) ; (7)
Ancient Demesne of Budleigh, Fen Ottery, and Brodeham (in
Domesday, No. 14, p. 13); (8) Ancient Demesne of Axminster
and Membury (in Domesday, No. 15, p. 15, and No. 751, p. 719).
Possibly Bradninch may have held a similar position,56 and
the district called Peadingtun, referred to by Mr. Davidson
(Trans, viii. 396). These minor Hundreds are now included
in the greater Hundreds, but their enumeration is quite
distinct in Hooker's list.

It does not fall within the scope of my present paper to
discuss the Hundreds of Devon, but I venture to think that
if we eliminate the assessments, which are clearly given
twice over in Domesday, and then exclude the assessments
of places which are extra Hundredal, or outside the well-
known larger Hundreds, of which only the Geldroll contains
the list, there will be no difficulty in showing that the
differences between the Geldroll and the Domesday assess-
ments are non-existent.

de Swenesey, clerk, warden of the King's mines, rendered 27 Feb. 29 Ed. I.,
i.e., a.d. 1300, mention "monies received from the king's manors of
Bradnech, Lydford, Dertemore, and Wyke, £124 17s. 7*d." Wyke is Week
in Chagford, alias Southteign, as appears from MS. 24,772, p. 193, where
under the heading, Manor of Suthteyng, alias Ham pa ton Week, in a brief
dated 4 Sept 9 Chas. I. , H amps ton Week is said to adjoin Suthteyng, and
the manor to bear both names. See also Trans, viii. 64.

65 In Burton's list of knights' fees, to which in Note 37 attention is
directed, South Tawton Hundred is mentioned distinct from North Tawton.
It has only one entry under it [No. 466] : " Cochtreu is held for J fee." To
this Hundred, probably, belonged Girold the Chaplain's Scapelie (No. 1 1 63,
p. 1093), whether we identify it with Ramsleigh in South Tawton, or Shapley
in Chagford. To it belonged also Gidleigh. For in C. Devon's MS. (Add.
MSS. 24,770 in Brit Mus.) p. 165, is an extract from the Pleas of the Crown,
9 Ed. I., i.e. a.d. 1280: "The Hundred of South Tawton appears by 12 sworn
men who say that William de Prouz holds the manor of Gyddeleigh in capita
of their lord the King." In an After Death Inquest, 13 Ed. IV., a.d. 1473,
(quoted in MS. 24, 779, p. 106). the jury find that Walter Code held the
manor of Gideleigh of George, Duke of Clarence, by military service as of his
manor of South Tawton.

06 It appears from MS. 24,770, p. 225, that payments were made to Brad-
ninch by Clistwike (St. George's Clist) and Hunshaw. In MS. 24,773, p. 43,
Bradninchton is said to consist of 3 parts: (1) the fee, (2) the manor, (3) the
borough. " The fee consists of freeholders, holding freeholds of the manor
in Devon, who appear twice a year at the lord's court and present the names
of deceased freeholders. These have their own bailiff. At the manor every
tenant appears every 3 weeks and takes his holding for an agreed time, and
is called a barton -tenant. Customary tenants hold by straighter sort than
barton tenants. The borough is the district within which the lord's charter
runs."

AN ENQUIRY AS TO THE GENUINENESS
OF THE PARISH ACCOUNTS OF MILTON ABBOTT,

FOR THE YEAR 1588,

AS GIVEN IN THE "MONTHLY MAGAZINE, OR BRITISH
REGISTER," FOR THE YEAR 1810.

BY REV. C. H. TAYLOR, M.A.
(Read at Okehampton, July, 1895.)

In the Monthly Magazine, or British Register, vol. xxix.,
part i., for 1810, we read this heading in p. 458 :

" Scarce Tracts, with Extracts and Analyses of Scarce Books.

" It is proposed in future to devote a few Pages of the Monthly
Magazine to the Insertion of such Scarce Tracts as are of an
interesting nature, with the use of which we may he favoured by
our Correspondents; and under the same Head to introduce also
the Analyses of Scarce and Curious Books."

Then follows :

"Transcript of the Parish Expenditure of Milton Abbot, for
the year 1588 ; in the order, and exactly after the Letter, of the
original/'

The Transcript, which follows, fills four pages and a half
of the magazine, in double column, small print.

This Transcript is given in the Report and Transactions of
the Devonshire Association, for the year 1879. The meeting
of this Association for that year was at Ilfracombe. Here
the Transcript is preceded by an introduction of 2 pages, and
is followed by 32 \ pages of notes ; both the introduction
and the notes being by Mr. W. Pengelly, F.R.S., &c.

A careful comparison of the Accounts, as given by Mr.
Pengelly, with the Transcript in the Monthly Magazine, gives
just eleven differences. They are mostly of the character
of printer's errors, springing from the old-fashioned way of

200 TBE PARISH ACCOUNTS OF *MILT05 ABBOTT

spelling. Two, however, are more important ; on page 218,
in Association Report, and sixteen lines bom the bottom,
iid. is given for ixicL in the Transcript; and on page 219
of same Report, nine lines from the top, xvfs is given for
xxjs in the Transcript As, however, the summing up is, in
other particulars, incorrect, these misprints are not of any
great consequence.

The following are the several misprints :

1. In p. 217 of Report, fourth line from the top, we have

" drinke " for u drink " in magazine.

2. In p. 217 of Report, third line from the bottom, we

have " mo " for " mothe " in magazine.

3. In p. 218 of Report, nineteenth line from the top, we

have " the " for " this " in the magazine.
4 In p. 2L8 of Report, twenty-ninth line from the top,
we have " ijd." for " Hid." in magazine,

5. In p. 219 of Report, eighth line from the top, we have

a likewise " for " likewise " in magazine.

6. In p. 219 of Report, ninth line from the top, we have

"xvjs" for "xxjs'1 in magazine.

7. In p. 219 of Report, fourteenth line from the top, we

have "fyne " for "fijie " in magazine.

8. In p. 219 of Report, thirty-second line from the top,

we have "of" omitted for "of" inserted in magazine.

9. In p. 220 of Report, fifteenth line from the top, we

have " xvijs " for " xvljs " in magazine.

10. In p. 220 of Report, nineteenth line from the top, we

have " Whytbourne " for " lVhitbourne " in magazine.

11. In p. 221 of Report, eleventh line from the bottom, we

have " comminge " for " coming " in magazine.

In his introductory remarks, Mr. Pengelly says, speaking
of the Transcript, " waiving all question as to its genuineness"
Now it is to this question of genuineness that I wish to
address myself in this paper. I hope to show, from a com-
parison of the places, and persons, and circumstances named
in this Transcript, with the names of the places, and persons,
and circumstances mentioned in the deeds, registers, and
papers in my hands, that we may take the Transcript to
be perfectly genuine.

Before going on to this comparison, in order to give any,
who have not the Accounts before them, an idea of what they
contain, I cannot do better, I am sure, than to give Mr.
Pengelly's description of what they contain, taken from
his introductory remarks. This description is remarkably

FOR THE YEAR 1588. • 201

accurate and good ; as, indeed, are all the notes, which be
gives, explaining the contents of the accounts.

* 'It appears," he says, "that the parish finances were placed in
the hands of six distinct sets of officers — Collectors for the Poor
People; Bread-wardens; Wardens of the Common Store; Hey-, or
flay-, or Heigh-wardens ; Receivers; and Payers — and that each
set rendered their accounts annually, but, with the exception of
the Receivers and Payers, no two of them at the same part of the
year."

" The Collectors for the Poor People " were two in number,
and were " electyed and chosen att the feaste of the Nativitie
of S. John the Baptist (24th June) for one whole yeare."
Their funds were derived from payments, or gifts, or both,
by parishioners whose names are given ; and their expendi-
ture' took the forms of small sums advanced to the poor, of
payments for articles of clothing, and of a few funeral
charges.

" The Bread- Wardens " were eight in number, and as, in
their Accounts, the parish was divided into four quarters —
"Edgcombe qr," "Chelyton qr," "Weeke qr," and "Leighe
qr" — there were probably two Wardens in and for each.
They sold, at least, Bread, "Cheyse," "Gerts," "Candels,"
and "Flesh"; and, after deducting "for making the cownte,
iiijd," they accounted for their gross receipts, as well as for
tt gather moneye " about each quarter, which they paid over
to the Beceivers for the parish. Their Account was rendered
"the xxj. daye of Julye." There is nothing to show how
their stocks were supplied.

"The Wardens of the Common Store" were two in
number, one for each of the divisions of the parish named
in the Account : " South Down or south part of this
pari8he,,, and "benorthe Down, or the north part of this
parishe." They had to "counte for bread and ale, made
and sold of the ots getheryd " in their respective divisions,
"with monyes getheryd there also"; and after deducting
" Expenses for making the cownte, ijd," they accounted for
their gross receipts, which they paid over to the Beceivers
for the parish. Their account was rendered on "the first
day of September." It will be seen that, by selling bread,
they interfered somewhat with the functions of the Bread-
Wardens.

In the year 1588 there was but one Hay- Warden. There
is nothing to show whether or not that was the usual
number, but the office seems to have been unpopular, as
the Warden closes his Account by giving the names of

YOL.XXVH p

202 THE PARISH ACCOUNTS OF MILTON ABBOTT

six parishioners "that fyned this yere for not doing this
office." No such statement occurs in the case of any
other officers. The Hay- Warden had to "cownte" for
sums realized by the sale of "shepe," which, coining
from various parishioners, were sold to other persons; for
" woull sold " ; for money received for graves ; for fines ; for
church property sold ; for " monye getheryd aboute the
parishe, for to buy bread and wyne for the holy com-
munion"; and for sums " receyvyd of them whych do
geve monyes to the Church for finding shepe." He paid
various accounts connected with the Church, as well as
for " makeynge the cownte iiijd," and handed such balance
as he had in hand to the Beceivers for the parish. His
Account was rendered " the sixth day of October."

The " Receivers," of whom there were three, received, as
has been stated, the gross receipts of the Bread- Wardens and
the Wardens of the Common Store, as well as the balance
which the Hay-Warden had in hand, but nothing from the
Collectors for the Poor People. They also received "gether
monye" for various purposes, money raised by rates, rents
for certain houses, "conducte monye," and sums due from
other parishes. They handed to the Payer for the parish
the greater part of their receipts; but they discharged a
few small accounts, and they paid for "makynge the
cownte, xijd." Their Account was rendered " the xxx. daye
of December."

There was, in 1588, but one Payer for the parish, but
there seem to have been two the year next before. He does
not appear to have received anything beyond that paid him
by the Eeceivers. He paid for erecting or repairing parish
buildings, everything of a military character, everything
connected with the preservation of the peace, and, in short,
almost every demand which could be made on the parish.
Indeed, he seemed to intrude occasionally on the functions of
the Hay- Warden. As already stated, his Account was
rendered on the same day as that of the Beceivers — "the
xxx. daye of December."

The fines mentioned already render it probable that the
Hay- Warden, like the Collectors for the Poor People, was
" electyd and chosen for one whole yeare " ; but there is no
indication, on this point, respecting the other officers.

Such is the careful and accurate digest of these Accounts
given by Mr. Pengelly. He also gives 32£ pages of notes
and explanations of the various statements, &c, of the
Accounts, of a most interesting character, showing wide

FOB THE YEAR 1588. 203

reading and deep research. To these notes I must refer any
who wish for explanations.

I proceed to examine how the names of places and persons
mentioned in the Accounts agree with those mentioned in
the Kegisters, and other books and papers now belonging to
the Parish. The agreement will be found to be striking, and
a certain witness of genuineness.

I. First, of the two great divisions of the parish
mentioned in the accounts of the Wardens of the Common
Store, " the South-Down, or south part of this parishe" and
•* benorthe Down, or the north part of this parishe" This
division is easily traced, and would be the division made
now by any desirous of dividing the parish into two parts
for the purpose of making any collection. Indeed, it is the
division still made at this day for the purpose of taking the
Census. The division runs with the main road between
Launceston and Tavistock, and the land on either side, north
and south, might well have been described, before its division
into fields, as " South- Down" and "Benorthe Down."

II. Then, as to the four quarters of the parish mentioned,
namely, Edgecome Quarter; Chelyton Quarter; Weeke
Quarter; and Leighe Quarter; all these names are still
preserved in the farms and town-places of those quarters ;
and may be traced down, in the deeds and registers, from
before the date of the Accounts to the present time. For
instance, in a deed in Latin, dating from April 8th, in 12th
year of reign of King Henry, the eighth after the conquest
of England, i.e. 1521, we have the name of "John Edgecombe
of Edgecombe, Gent., son and heir of John Edgecombe,
deceased." Again, in a deed dated "vicesimo tertio die
Januarii," "in tricesimo secundo anno" of Elizabeth "Anglise,
ffranciae, et Hibernise regina, fidei defensor," i.e. 1591, or only
three years after the date of the Accounts, Edgecombe is
named and described as " infra parochiam de Milton Abbott,"
below the parish of Milton Abbott. This very well describes
the position of Edgecombe at the present day, taking parish
as meaning Churchtown.

In the register of Burials for the year 1674, we read " John
Sleeman, of Edgcombe, was buried the 2nd of April, anno ut
supra." And, in a deed of the date of 1695, "Eichard
Edgecombe, of Edgecombe" is spoken of. In the [Register of
Baptisms in 1679, we read "Nicholas, s. of Eichd Edgecombe,
of Edgecombe, Gent." Other similar entries in the Kegisters
bring us down to the burial of Piers Edgcombe, of Edgecombe,
in 1887.

P 2

204 THE PARISH ACCOUNTS OF MILTON ABBOTT

As to Chelyton Quarter; the name appears 6 times in
the early part of the Begisters, beginning with the entry of a
marriage in 1681, where it is said that " John Bobbins, of
Chilaton, was married to Anna Smallacombe " ; and in
entries of burials in the years 1672, 1703, 1713, 1715, and
1737, the name of the village of Chillaton appears, and so
on to the present time. Also, in the book of certificates for
burial in woollen, the name of the village appears in an
entry in the year 1694.

Again, as to Weeke Quarter ; the name appears in a deed
dated 1659 ; it is there called Weeke Dawbernon, and a
William Doidge was residing there at that date — a son, I
suppose, of the "William Doidge of Weke" mentioned in
the Accounts, or possibly the same individual.

The name of Week also appears in the Begister of Burials ;
in the year 1671 "William, the sonne of Bartholomew
Doidge, of Weeke" was buried; and in 1679 "Elizabeth,
the daughter of Bartholomew Doidge, of Week" was
buried. And in 1681 "Bartholomew Doidge, of Week"
himself, was buried. In 1687 "John Doidge, Senr., of
Week, was buried."

In the Tavistock Parish Records, p. 3, we read, "John
d'Abernon, of Bradford, gave the manor of Wyke, Brent Tor,
to the Abbey of Tavistock, 26 Edward III., and was
probably the founder of the chapel bearing his name." Has
this anything to do with Weeke Dawbernon, mentioned in the
deed referred to above? Week is close under Brent Tor,
and belongs to the Duke of Bedford ; and the Accounts spell
it Weke, which may well be turned into Wyke in copying.

Then we come to Leighe quarter ; the farm of Leigh is to
be found adjoining Endsleigh. No doubt, Endsleigh was taken
out of the estate of Leigh. The name of this quarter does
not appear in the Begisters at an early date. The reason
may be that it lies near the Churchtown, and those living
there were so well-known that they did not require to have
the place of their abode mentioned.

III. Besides the places giving names to the four quarters
of the parish, many other places are mentioned in the
Accounts, which are also mentioned in the Begisters, and
other books and deeds.

a. We read in the Accounts of "William Doidge the Elder,
of Quether" In the Begisters, we read, in 1658, "Bichard
Doidge, of Quether, was buried"; in 1662, "Elizabeth, the
daughter of John Doidge, of Quether, was buried " ; in 1681,
"James, the sonne of Bichard Doidge, of Queder, was

FOR THE YEAR 1588. 205

baptized " ; in 1671, " Kichard, the sonne of Richard Doidge,
of Quither, was buried/1 Similar entries also occur in the
years 1675, 1676, 1713, 1738, and 1777, and so on to
the present time.

6. We also read in the Accounts of "John Maynard,
of Foghanger" In an Indenture of Queen Elizabeth's
reign, we read of " Foghanger, infra parochiam de Milton
Abbott " ; as is also said of Edgcombe. This very well
describes its position. In the Registers we seem to have the
burial of the very person mentioned in the Accounts : We
read in 1659, "John Maynard, of Foghanger, buried" Allow-
ing him to have been twenty-one at the time of the Accounts,
he would have been ninety-two when he died.

In 1673 we read, " Joan Maynard, of ffoghanger, buried."
While in 1776 we read, as buried, " William Coram, Senr., of
Fogner" This is the name by which the hamlet is commonly
known in the present day.

c. We read in the Accounts of " John Collyne, of West-
cot" ; as also of " Richard Sowton, of Westcot" In the
Registers we read, in 1679, "Agnes, the wife of Andrew
Doidge, of Wescot, was buried." We have still a farm of
this name.

d. The Accounts mention "John Collyne, of Wylslye." In
the Register, in 1702, we read, " A certain Travelling woman,
dying at Wilsley, within the pish of Mylton Abbot, was
buried the 11th day of January." This recalls to the mind
the entry in the Accounts, where it is said, "Payde to
the same Walt for makinge of a grave for a poor man
who dyed at Longcrosse iid." For Wilsley would, in those
days, have been the nearest inhabited place to Long-Cross.
This district must have been, in those times, a wild, desolate
place, where the roads from Exeter to Cornwall, and from
North Devon to Plymouth, crossed one another, a very likely
place for travellers to lose themselves. Accordingly, we read
another entry from the Registers in the year 1765: "Nov.
24th, a Poor Traveller (name unknown), who was found dead
at Long-Cross, in this parish," was buried. All these places
are known by the same names now.

e. Then the Accounts mention " Thomas Collyne, of Burn-
shall" In the Book for burying in woollen we read, under
the year 1684, "Richard Edgcombe, of Bumshall, was
buried." This name for a farm in the parish still exists, but
has been corrupted by the last tenant into Burns Hall.

f. In the Accounts we have "John Sleman, of Long-
brook.*' In a Deed of Agreement of the year 1667, we read of

206 THE PARISH ACCOUNTS OF MILTON ABBOTT

"John Toker, of Longbrooke, within the pish of Milton
Abbott, in the County of Devon." In the Registers, under
the year 1673, we read, "Kichard Doidge, of Longbrook,"
was buried. On a tombstone in the Churchyard we read,
"William Tooker, of Longbrooke, deceased the 3rd day of
March, An. Dm. 1645." Still, Longbrook exists.

g. In the Accounts we read of "Richard Jackeman, of
Popfalip" In the Registers we have, under the year 1672,
"Philippa, the daughter of John Rundle, of Pophdip,"
was buried. Now called Pophleet.

There are a few other places mentioned in the Accomnts,
which are still bearing the , same names, but are not
mentioned in the Registers. This is but what might be
expected, as the Registers do not profess to give the names of
the places in the parish, and only do so when some mark of
distinction in the persons is required. These other places
are Youngcot, Beare (or Beara), Oldhouse, and Beckaton.

IV. We come, now, to examine the names of the
parishioners mentioned in the Accounts. Mr. Pengelly
says (41), " The Milton Abbott Accounts contain 186 names,
possibly, but not certainly, the names of ad many
parishioners, of whom 169 were males, and 17 were females,
assuming ' Philip Vela, vid.' to have been a male." Taking
the surnames only, the number of these to be found in the
Registers and Deeds is 148 ; thus leaving 38 for those who may
not have been residents in the parish, and who may have
left, or died out, in the 65 years before the Registers began.

It may be thought that 86 years, or even 96 years, is not
an uncommon age for some few to attain to in country
districts, and that, therefore, we might expect to find the
deaths of a few of these parishioners named in the Accounts
of 1588 in the Registers which commence in 1653. Let us
see how it is in this case.

(i.) In the Accounts we read : " Doidge, Johan, vid., con-
tributed Is. to the Poor's-box." In the Registers, under 1654,
"Joane Doidge was buried the 24th of May." This may
have been the very same person. If she was a widow of 25
years old at the time of the Accounts, she would have been
92 at her death.

(ii.) In the Accounts, two John Sleemans are mentioned.
In the Registers, under the year 1654, we read : "John
Sleman, the elder, was buried." So the Registers agree
with the Accounts that there were two John Slemans
about that time; and show that one of them may have
died, and did die, in 1654.

FOR THE YEAR 1588. 207

(iii.) In the Accounts, George Doidge, of Quether, is
mentioned. In the Registers, under the year 1654, we read :
" George Doidge was buried the 20th day of June."

(iv.) In the Accounts, two Eoger Doidges are mentioned.
In the Registers, "Eoger Doidge was buried the 13th of
April, 1665."

(v.) In the Accounts, two John Edgecombes are mentioned.
In the Registers we read : " John Edgecombe was buried the
10th of November, 1656."

(vi) In the Accounts, " John Maynard, of Foghanger," is
mentioned. In the Registers we read: "John Maynard, of
Foghanger, buried June 4, 1659."

(vii.) In the Accounts, Gonstantyne Bobyns is mentioned.
We read in the Registers : " Constantino Bobbyns, buried
May 6, 1659."

(viii.) In the Accounts, Johan Jackeman, vid., is mentioned.
In the Registers we have : " Joane Jackeman, buried Nov. 1,
1662." This allows her to have been a widow of 22 years
old, if she died at the age of 96.

(ix.) In the Accounts, Davyd Sleman is mentioned. We
have in the Registers : " David Sleman, buried Nov. 10,
1663."

(x.) In the Accounts, John Doidge, of Weke, is mentioned.
In the Registers we read: "John, of Weeke, Doidge (sic),
Juried Jan. 22, 1664."

If the same person is referred to in both the entries, then
lie died at 97 should he have been 21 in 1588.

Perhaps this is as far as we had better go.

Here, then, we have 10 persons, out of the 186 mentioned,
living to between the ages of 87 and 97. If this should
seem a rather exaggerated proportion, then it is open to us to
believe that a few of them may have been sons or daughters
bearing their parents' name. This will not weaken the
testimony to the genuineness of the Accounts afforded by
the many and striking coincidences.

It would be possible greatly to add to these coincidences
if, instead of confining ourselves to the deaths of those
mentioned in the Accounts, we had gone on to instance
the deaths of the sons and daughters and wives of these
people; as, for instance, in 1653 we have the burials of
"Daniel, the sonne of John Rundell," "Bichard, the son
of John Hawkings," in 1654. Again, in the same year,
u Bichard, the son of Constantine Maynarde" Also, " Joane,
the wife of William Doidge" These fathers and this
husband are mentioned in the Accounts, but their deaths

%vV %m» RAKISH ACCOUNTS OF MILTON ABBOTT

^ *vs* At^^wAr iu the Registers; they were either already dead
sV*v*v t,tw te<fi$ter$ began, or they were buried elsewhere.

CW uuiuber ot* such instances might be greatly increased,
*mV» tHM'h*^ enough has been said on this branch of the
*ubjeot to bear striking witness to the genuineness of the

V. Let us go on now to see how these Accounts bear
vvu^nuiaou with those of Tavistock of the same date, viz.,
the Year 1588 and thereabouts. We should expect to find
iHOiauterable differences with certain similarities, seeing it
\yu* the time of the Armada and the Irish disturbances, and
thut Milton Abbott appears always to have had intimate
eouueotions with Tavistock, as formerly belonging to the
Abbey of Tavistock. For instance, Roger Sturt, vicar of
Mylton, is named as paying xiij8 iiijd in the Records of
Tavistock in the year 1425.

The quotations are from the Calendar of the Tavistock
J*ari*h Records, by R. N. Worth, f.g.s.

a. In the Milton Abbott Accounts, "Weeke quarter" of
the parish is mentioned, and Weke is mentioned as the place
where John and William Doidge lived I have shown that
this is quite in keeping with the Registers of the parish, and
with a deed belonging to the parish, which adds to the
name, calling it Weeke Daubernon. Now, as early as the
year 1385, we read in the Tavistock Records, p. 3, of a sum
of money given " For the altar of S. Salvator with the chapel
of John Dabnoun"

b. In the Milton Accounts we have "the collectors for
the poor people." In the Tavistock Records we have mention
of a sum of money received from "Thomas Knappe, Collector"
in the year 1423. (p. 7.)

c. In Milton Accounts we read of the " gather money about
this quarter xiijd" ; (p. 219.) And, "Receyvyd in monye
gathered about the parishe for to buy bread and wyne for
the Holy Communion vj8. In Tavistock Records, 1561 (p. 26.)
" Receauyed of the gathering moneys for the Reperacion of
Church this yere viiiu viii8."

d. In the Accounts, the hey- warden " paide for bread and
wyne for the holye communione this yere xiiij8 iijd." In the
Records in 1538 "for bredd and wyne xvjd." In 1566,
" Itm for bredd and wynne for the Comunyon for this yere
xv8 ijd ob," and in 1561, "Itm payed for Bredde for the
Comunyon for the hole yere this yere v8 iiijd."

e. In the Accounts, the archdeacon's visitation is mentioned
(l». 219), and the cost of the aitycles xijd. Also, "payde

FOR THE TEAR 1588. 209

at the Bishop's visitation for artycles xxijd." "For the
wardens and sidesmens dynners, xijd. For washinge of the
Church clothinge this yere viiijd."

In the Records, " Itm paide for Wasehyng of the Churche
Clothes and for mendyng of them ijB " in the year 1566 ;
also, in the year 1540, "for wasshynge of the Churche Clothes
p. anm iiij8." And in the year 1561, "Itm more payd at mye
lorde Byschoppe is visitacion for hallffe of the Boke callyd
the Callne vj8." "Itm for wasschynge of fyue Surples
and one comvnyon cloth iiij8. Itm for mendynge of the
Surples yjd." "Itm payed for the foure men is dener at
the Archdeacon is visitacion ij8. viijd."

/. In the Accounts, " To Oliver Maynard for a new byble,
xxxvj8." In Records, " Itm payed for a bybyll of the largis
volume xxvj8 viijd" in the year 1561. Again, in the year
1588, " Itm paide for a newe Bible for the Church xj8 viijd."

g. In the Accounts, "To John Cragge for the fyne of
wearinge of hats this yere xijd." In the Records, " Itm paid
to Mr. Thomas Mohun the Earle of Bedfords hundred Bayleif
... in hurdewyke Court sett uppon the pisheners for that
they offende the statue in not wearinge Capps on the
Sondaie iij8 iiijd " in the year 1605.

A. In the Accounts, " To one Jermain for scouring of the
parishe harnis vg. To Tristram Doidge, for a coppye
of the mouster-booke, ij8. ... To the same Tristram for
trayninge the souldiers at Tavistocke lviij8 viijd. To the
same Tristram for press monye vjd." Then we read of
money lent and returned for supplying gunpowder, of money
for buying musketts x1 iij8; of "wages for the trayend
souldiers going to Exceter vjl x8." "To John Wyse for
mending a corslet, xijd." "To Olyver Edgecombe for
mending of murrion, sword, dagger and bible (sic) staff
xd." "To John Wyse for carrydge of harnis to Tavistock
for the Ireland Souldiers iijd," and other entries of a similar
character.

In the Records of the same year, 1588, "Itm Receyved of
the pishioners of Tavistock towardes a rate made for the
settinge fourthe of Souldyers for the guardinge of the Queenes
maties pson and towardes the mayneteynaunce of the Churche
this yere, as appeareth by a Booke of the pticulars thereof
xxxja x8 iiijd." Again, "Itm paide in August laste for the
expenses of the Souldiers att Plympton vij8. Itm paide to
John Burges for his paynes in goinge with the Thrum [drum]
vjd. . . Itm paide James the Cutler for makinge cleane
strappynge and other Trymuiynge of the Corslett and other

210 THE PARISH ACCOUNTS OF MILTON ABBOTT

armour of the pishe, and for a newe Daggar vjs." And more
to the same effect.

i. In the Accounts, " To the Vicar for that he payde them
that gathered with lycences vij8 vijd," and "to a poore man
which gathered to S. Leonard iiijd.,,

In the Records for the same year, " Itm paid a pore man
thatt collected for the hospitall of Saynt Leonards vjd."
Evidently the same man is referred to in both accounts.

j. In the Accounts a certain Mr. Fytze is referred to. " To
the same constable and John Adams, for their dynners, being
at Tavistocke before Mr. Fytze, to receyve back agayne
ix1 via* iiijd (which remayneth in their hands), being part of
the monyes whych was payde out for the same souldiers,
viijd."

In the Records of the same year we have, no doubt, the
same Mr. ffytz mentioned four times, and each time as an
important person ; in one entry he is called John ffytze,
esquier, in the others Mr. ffytze.

Taking the surnames mentioned in the Records in this
year, seven or eight of them are also to be found in the
Milton Accounts. This would be about the number that
might be expected in two places having such close business
relations, and populations of about 900 and 2000; also
bearing in mind that the number of names mentioned is,
Milton 186, Tavistock 100.

h. As to the value of money, as represented in the
Accounts and Records, the following particulars may be of
interest : —

(i.) In the Accounts we read, "Payde at the bishop's visita-
tion for Artycles, xxijd."

In the Records, " Itm paide for a Booke of Articles att the
ffirst visitacon and for other ffees then xxiid " exactly the
same sum.

(ii.) In the Accounts, "for the wardens and sidesmen's
dyner at this visitation, xiid." This was at the Bishop's
visitation. There was also an Archdeacon's visitation this
year, when the same sum was paid for the "wardens and
sidesmens dynner."

In the Records, we are also informed that fees were paid
for both an archdeacon's and a Bishop's visitation this year.
The former is called the first visitation ; the following entry
would appear to belong to the latter : " Itm paide for the
Dynner of the wardens and one of the sydesmen the xxiiij
daye of Maye last att the delyverey of our p'sentments for
the laste visitation xiid." Here the dinners of the wardens

FOR THE YEAR 1588. 211

and one sidesman came to the same as was paid in the
Accounts for the wardens' and sidesmen's dinner, namely,
xiid.

(iii.) The wages of the day-labourer appear to be pretty
much the same in both accounts : —

1. In the Accounts we have "To George Manninge for
three dayes worke about the same style xid. To Henry
Collyne, one dayeft work about the same style iiijd." This
gives about fourpence for a day's work.

In the Records, " Itm payde to John Brouresdon for ffy ve
dayes worke of hymsellfe and his Boye, and for ffyndinge
themselves aboute the porche and Schole howse vB iid." This
man was probably a tradesman, receiving, therefore, higher
day-wages than a labourer, about sixpence a day.

2. In the Accounts, " To Constantyne Sargent for mending
of a bell whele, iiid."

In the Records, " Itm paid to Pundory for mendinge the
wheyle of the great bell iid."

It is difficult to find instances of charges that can be so
compared as to give accurately the value of money in the
two accounts ; but what has been given seems to show a
fair agreement as to the value of money.

I. In the Accounts, the only reference to money coming
from other sources than collections in money or in kind, or
from things sold, or gifts, or loans, or fees, or fines, is
(p. 220): "Keceyved rent for the house at Tavistocke x8.
•* For the lytel chamber of the Church-house " ; also, in the
expenses, we read : " For howse rent and amercements for
the howse at Tavistocke xiiid."

This is quite in accordance with Deeds in the Eegister-
chest, and tends to show the genuineness of the Accounts.

The fate of the Church-house I have not traced. It is
gone ; but there is a tradition of its existence and sale.

The house in Tavistock can be traced by the Deeds referred
to. It can be traced from its first coming to the Church, to
its sale in 1861. The history, in short, is this : The property
of which it formed a -part was obtained before 1521 by
Thomas Edgecombe, of Edgecombe, in Co. of Devon, yeoman,
from Jeremy Hampden, of Hartwell, in co. Buckingham,
soldier ; he had received it from his uncle, lately dead, John
Edgecombe.

Then, in 1521, John Edgecombe, of Edgecombe, gent, son
and heir of John Edgecombe, deceased, gives to trustees the
tenement and garden adjoining, in the town of Tavistock,
which he inherited from his father. He gives it for the use

212 THE PARISH ACCOUNTS OF MILTON ABBOTT.

and maintenance of the Parish Church, as we learn from the
statements of following Deeds.

The next Deed is dated 1591. This is followed by ten
other Deeds dated 1610, 1653, 1654, 1659, 1667, 1695, 1696,
1714, 1768, 1817. Then, in 1861, the Accounts of the
Church Restoration have this entry : " The produce of sale of
Vigo Barn, applied by vote of Vestry to Church Restoration
Fund, £108 3. 8d."

In the course of these years the property had dwindled
down from " a tenement and garden adjoining," and orchard,
to Vigo Barn ! It had been continually leased on 99 years
and 'lives. From one Deed it would seem that the remaining
trustees became conscious that the property had been going
in a bad way ; so they appointed their young sons as
trustees, with an awful denunciation upon any who should
divert the property from the use and maintenance of the
Parish Church. We are now left with the comfort that no
despoilers can take away Vigo Barn from the Church.

VI. In conclusion, then, I would submit that these strik-
ing coincidences, arising from a comparison of the Accounts
with the Deeds and Registers, and also with the Tavistock
Records, leave no room for doubt of the genuineness of the
Accounts.

How admirably do the Deeds and Registers support the
Accounts ! Consider the divisions of the parish, and the
names of those divisions, and the various places mentioned
besides. Think how the names of the parishioners in both
cases so well agree, and in such a number of instances.

And, notwithstanding the great, yet natural, differences
that appear between the Accounts of Milton Abbott and
those of Tavistock of the same year, and about the same
time, yet what a similarity is there ! Think of the name of
Week, or Wyke Daubernon; of the collectors and the gather-
money in the two instances ; of the bread and wine for Holy
Communion, provided in the same way ; the two Visitations
referred to in both cases ; also the fines for wearing hats ; the
military matters ; the gathering or collection for S. Leonards;
the references to Mr. Fy tze ; the value of money ; the rent
and history of the house in Tavistock ; the wages paid.

If the many and striking agreements mentioned in this
paper fail to convince the reader of the genuineness of the
Milton Abbott Accounts for 1588, certainly the study of the
subject has convinced me most thoroughly that we have in
these accounts a genuine statement of the affairs of Milton
Abbott in the year 1588.

DAETMOOE AND THE COUNTY COUNCIL OF

DEVONSHIRE.

BT W. F. COLLIER.
(Read at Okebampton, July, 1895.)

When the Devonshire Association held their Annual Meeting
at Southmolton, about this time last year, I read a paper
on " Dartmoor for Devonshire," in which I argued, to the
best of my ability, that, following the example of the City
of London, whose Council bought Epping Forest for their
citizens, the County Council of Devonshire should buy
Dartmoor for the Devonshire folk. I sent a copy of my
paper, with the author's compliments, to every member of
the County Council, Aldermen and Councillors, numbering
104; and out of all these representatives of Devon I got
one letter in reply, which was unfavourable to the proposal
Two of my papers came back to me unopened, because they
had been forwarded to another address, and there was a
half-penny to pay on them.

Not a word, as far as I know, has been said in the County
Council on the subject of this proposal, and the County
Council has treated it with the silence of the grave.

I do not complain ; it does not concern me as a simple
member of this Association. I am quite willing to think
that the paper was not equal to the occasion — that it was
not worth the while of any County Councillor to read it,
as a piece of writing — and that it fully deserved the
contempt of those eminent persons as a suggestion to them
of a subject that might well occupy their minds.

But the scheme to purchase Dartmoor for Devonshire had
the unanimous approval of this Devonshire Association, at
their annual meeting ; it also had the approval of the
Dartmoor Preservation Society, and of the Mercantile
Associations of Plymouth and of Tavistock — all of which

214 DAKTMOOR AND THE

consist of persons worthy of the notice of the County
Council. This Devonshire Association alone might inspire
some little respect, sufficient to induce the members of the
County Council to take some steps to consider such a pro-
posal as the purchase of Dartmoor.

The Corporation of the City of London began a suit in
the Law Courts, in the Epping Forest case, in July, 1871,
and the Forest was thrown open by the Queen herself, on
the 6th May, 1882. The Corporation of the City, therefore,
thought the Forest of so much importance that they devoted
eleven years to the hard work of acquiring Epping Forest
of 6000 acres. The Devonshire County Council think so
little of the Forest of Dartmoor of 56,000 acres, that it is
not even worth their while to mention it, though it must
have been before the public for some time. It is true that
the County Council has been re-elected during the year, but
the word Dartmoor has not been uttered by any one of the
members of the Council, that I ever heard of. Their minds
are full of police, roads, bridges, technical education, and
such like affairs, and we all know that we are a rate-fearing
people. Still, the acquisition of Dartmoor would, at least,
be worth discussion, if it were merely to find out whether
buying it were possible, and if so, whether it would pay a
rent, and be a saving of rates, or otherwise.

In the case of Epping Forest, bought by the City of
London, there was nothing, except the Forest as a public
pleasure ground, for the Corporation of London to buy and
to protect. Whereas in the case of Dartmoor there is the
water supply of more than half the County to be protected ;
and so far from Dartmoor being an expense and a charge
on the rates, it is not unlikely that it would return enough,
in existing circumstances, to cover all expenses, and be no
charge whatever on the rates. As it is a Forest, it might
also offer a field for forestry, an art much neglected, and a
technical school for forestry might engage the attention of
the Technical School Committee on some parts of the Moor.

The City of London has cleared the way for all future
Corporations to proceed to acquire the open spaces available
for their people, and the Local Government Acts expressly
empower Local Councils to take their commons, village
greens, and open spaces under their care.

It is hardly necessary again to say that all Devonshire
men, if not Cornish men also, have rights on Dartmoor,
which rights can be made good in the Courts of Law. The
City of London has established such-like rights by means of

COUNTY COUNCIL OP DEVONSHIRE. 215

judgments obtained in the Courts of Law, and they cannot
now be disputed. Therefore the County Council have simply
to take charge of the interests of the Devonshire folk on the
Forest of Dartmoor.

Whether it be legal or not legal, open spaces are enclosed,
and have been enclosed for generations, unless they are
protected. No man's purse or watch would be safe unless
it were protected by the law, acting through a police con-
stable. So it has been, and will be, with Dartmoor. There
will be nothing of it left, the sources of the streams will be
destroyed, and no rivers worth talking about will flow from
its watersheds, if some authority does not undertake its
protection.

I do not doubt for a moment that the Devonshire County
Council, with its Aldermen and Councillors, is of the
greatest advantage and use to the county. It has taken
steps, by means of Technical Dairy Schools, to improve off
the face of the earth our Devonshire cream and butter, and
to substitute separators for the scalding process in the treat-
ment of milk. I would far rather they would let the Devon-
shire cream alone, and turn their attention to Dartmoor.

This Devonshire Association consists of a great number
of Devonshire men and women, who have naturally taken
a supreme interest in Devonshire and Devonshire matters;
geology, archeology, Domesday, dialect, and what not! on
which many pages of writing are now to be found in the
volumes of the published Transactions. Dartmoor itself
has occupied no small part of the attention of the Devon-
shire Association, as the volumes of the Transactions can
testify. It might be supposed, that when a member of the
County Council were elected, the first thing he would do
would be to seek to join this Association. But it is a
Temarkable fact that of all the 455 members of the Devon-
shire Association only twenty-two of them are members
of the County Council. The County Council have this
advantage over the Devonshire Association, that whereas all
the members of the Devonshire Association cannot be
members of the County Council, all the members of the
County Council can be members of the Devonshire Associa-
tion. But as they have not availed themselves of that
privilege, it is not surprising that the Devonshire Association
and the County Council should look at Devonshire from
different points of view. The puzzle for the Devonshire
Association is, to find out the point of view of the County
Council, and to discover how it is the County Council have,

u, DARTMOOR AND THB

^^AivaUy* never heard of Dartmoor as a place of any
•.**«** v** v>* importance whatever. I suppose the County
vVu*wii couaiats of men of business, whilst the Devonshire
Wvvwtaou consists of men and women of Science, Art, and
t,\ua*tiuv ; and the County Council may think that men of
Uuaiuot* have no business on Dartmoor, if they are to have
Uuui unuda confused with such things as Science, Art, and
Liuu*mv* if the County Council occupies itself only with
ivaU* bulges, and police, halving the care of the police
*uh Quarter Sessions, they can have nothing in common
\uUv the Devonshire Association; but the County Council
h** uUo concerned itself with Technical Education, and the
lK>vou*hire Association has devoted itself to educating the
ihh^Io for years, though they might differ from the County
(Vvtuoil as to what may be technical in education, especially
uv the matter of Devonshire cream and butter.

A most surprising difference, however, between those two
mwt Devonshire authorities has developed itself. The
Tkwonahire Association devotes itself in a great measure to
Itartmoor; on the other hand the County Council appears
not to be aware that it exists. There is another rather
nurprising fact The London County Council, a kindred
body to the Devonshire County Council, are so much alive to
the value of Dartmoor that they have actually promoted
a Hill in Parliament, happily withdrawn for the present,
to acquire Dartmoor for a water supply, and, in the face
of that remarkable state of things, the Devonshire County
Council, judging from their sayings and doings, are not aware
that there is any water on Dartmoor, or any river of pure
water flowing therefrom for the benefit of Devonshire folk.
I should imagine that no County Council that ever was
elected could be so apathetic, on a question of the water
supply of at least half their county.

The County Council may think that Dartmoor is quite
safe, if they give a thought to it at all. An Act of Parlia-
ment has been passed, which practically, it is said, repeals
the Statute of Merton, and no more inclosures can take
ulaca But why was not the Statute of Merton repealed,
luntead of a roundabout way taken to make it inoperative ?
Dartmoor is not safe, as we too well know, and will not
be safe, until the County Council has acquired it, and then
if our representatives do not take care of it, it will be
our own fault Every year some part of Dartmoor is practi-
cally lost to us, and even now there are crazy notions
of Company Promoters, for ruining their shareholders by

COUNTY COUNCIL OF DEVONSHIRE. 217

turning the Dartmoor bogs into peat fuel, which would be
destructive of our water supply. Is a fine water supply
of no value, and is such a thing, of infinite importance as it
is in these modern days of large populations, to be trifled
with, and be allowed to slip away from us ? The County
Council ought to satisfy themselves that Dartmoor is
safe before they let it severely alone ; but no, they never
mention it, its name is never heard; and if they took
the trouble to inquire, they would soon find how far
from safe it is.

It is true that we are a rate-fearing people, and the County
Council may fear the rate-fearing public. But they spend
rates on the police, and no amount of policemen can
compare with Dartmoor in importance, taking into con-
sideration the nature of the property to be protected. I
will run the risk of again quoting the old wise saw,
which should never be forgotten: —

" The Law condemns both man and woman,
Who steals the goose from off the common,
But lets the greater felon loose,
Who steals the common from the goose ! "

As the police protect our geese, for which the ratepayers
pay them, so ought the County Council to take care of
our commons for us.

My opinion from the first was, that Devonshire is too
large for one County Council, and that the county ought to
have been divided into two parts, for the purposes of Local
Government.

Dartmoor would then have been in the Western Division,
and would have been of the first importance to the Western
County Council, instead of being of no importance at all in
the minds of the County Council that sits at Exeter. Exeter
is too far from many of the districts to be anything but
a trouble and a burden to the Aldermen and Councillors who
happen to represent them, especially as the work is done
by constant and repeated attendance on Committees. The
result is that those who live within easy reach of Exeter rule
the County, and they are of those who do not know or care
much about Dartmoor.

Although commons, open spaces, village greens, rights of
way, are especially placed in charge of Local Authorities by
the Local Government Act, 1894, and the Local Councils
are called upon to protect such rights, yet there exists a
certain amount of indifference to these most valuable public
possessions, as they may well be called, and they have time

VOL. XXVII. Q

218 DARTMOOR AND THE

out of mind been allowed to lapse by neglect ; some for the
want of authority to protect them, some from carelessness
and ignorance of their great value, and some from the dread
of the monstrous law charges which we must all pay fpr the
luxury of justice, especially in matters relating to the land.

The County Council have certainly had a great deal of
work thrown upon them by the Local Government Act, and
it may be said that they have had no time for anything else.
If such an excuse had been given for not taking up the
subject of Dartmoor, or even if Dartmoor had been alluded
to as a large part of Devonshire, we could patiently wait
a short time for the leisure of the County Council; but
if no such place as Dartmoor existed they could not have
been more silent, or more indifferent to its claims as a
Devonshire Common, Forest, Chase, or whatever it may be
called, on which the public have valuable rights.

It seems to me that not only the County Council, but also
the District Councils, Parish Councils, and parish meetings
will have to be urged to look after their rights of common
and rights of way ; there appears to be so much indifference
to their real value on the part of leading men. It is not
at all easy to say why there should be so much negligence
of what are infinitely valuable rights. If there had been
any appreciation of such rights whatever, Dartmoor would
have been a matter for the consideration of the County
Council from the first.

No one for a moment would suppose that the valuation of
such a forest as Dartmoor for purchase could be an easy,
simple affair, still less could it be supposed that the Duchy
of Cornwall would show any anxiety to sell such a property.
The sale by the Duchy, and the purchase by the County
Council, must be of necessity an affair of importance,
demanding very serious consideration on both sides. It
has been too hastily assumed, and it has been stated in
the newspapers rather too confidently, that the Duchy would
be willing to sell.

Exmoor, which was a true Royal Forest, was sold by
George III. to a subject of His Majesty, a private gentleman,
though it is still called a Forest.

The County Council have taken some interest in Exmoor,
part of which is at present in Somersetshire, and have en-
deavoured to get the County boundaries altered, which are
now absurdly irregular, that the whole of Exmoor may be
included in Devonshire, as it clearly ought to be. In the
reign of King John the whole of Devonshire was disafforested,

COUNTY COUNCIL OF DEVONSHIRE. 219

with the exception of Dartmooor and Exmoor, Exmoor Forest
was, therefore, then in Devonshire, and the County Council
are only right in claiming it

But why neglect Dartmoor ? If a private gentleman could
buy Exmoor of the King, surely the County Council can buy
Dartmoor of the Duchy of Cornwall. Perhaps as Dartmoor
is part of the property of the Duchy of Cornwall, the County
Council may have a vague idea it is in Cornwall

As George III. sold Exmoor Forest, it may be assumed
that the Duchy of Cornwall might sell Dartmoor to a public
body, such as the Devonshire County Council, at an adequate
price, for the sake of the public of Devonshire. And it is
probable that the Devonshire County Council might manage
such a peculiar property to greater advantage, than officials
in a London office. If by the transaction the net income from
the property, reckoned on a fair business-like calculation,
would not be reduced, would be more easily collected, and
more regularly received, it would be some advantage to the
Duchy to sell the property, which at present must be rather
troublesome to manage. The great advantage to both sides
would be that the Devonshire people would get a property
of extraordinary value to them, for many reasons, and the
Duchy would get rid of property of no value whatever to
them, except the mere income in money that it brought in.

It is a fact that the London County Council actually pro-
moted a Bill in Parliament in 1894, to enable them to obtain
water for the supply of London from Dartmoor, which
attempt to take our water from us, most serious as it was
to Devonshire folks, does not seem to have been worthy of
even so much as a casual remark by any one member of the
Devonshire County Council.

If the London County Couucil first treat with the Duchy,
and propose to buy the whole of Dartmoor, for the sake of a
copious supply of the purest water to London, what would
be thought of the apathy of our County Council then ? The
half of Devonshire, west of the Exe and south of the Taw,
would be grievous sufferers. They would see the London
County Council masters of Dartmoor, managing it for their
own sole advantage, and going with a light heart with their
enormous wealth into the Law Courts, to test the validity of
all our rights — rights which our County Council had neglected
to bestow a thought upon.

I can see Dartmoor, in my mind's eye, turned to good

account by the London County Council in their own London

fashion — Cockney villas in all directions, with railway and

q 2

220 DARTMOOR AND THE

tramway approaches; large reservoirs in the place of our
river heads, now silent spots for thonghtfal men, far from
the madding crowd ; perhaps boats and electric launches on
them, with bands of music, and a superfluity of the sort of
civilization which is peculiar to this Jin-de-siklc; tourists on
every remaining Tor, the granite of which may not have been
good enough for London Police Stations, and trippers staring
at the reservoirs, calling them pretty, like the Serpentine.

I loath the very thought of our pure water, caught as it is
by our high hills from the heavens, and held for us by those
blessed bogs, conducted into pipes, taken to London by Act
of Parliament, eventually to flush the sewers of the modem
Babylon. To what base uses we may return !

The Local Government Act, 1888, under which the County
Councils were established, was unfortunately not so carefully
protective of our rights of common, of our open spaces, and
of our rights of way, as the Local Government Act, 1894
Dartmoor Forest itself is in the Parish of Lydford, but the
rights over it, as has already been said, are very extensive.
All the parishes around it, whose Parish Councils or Parish
Meetings have powers under the Act, such parishes also being
included in several districts with their Councils, exercise
these, to them, very valuable rights. Much of the details
of the Local Government Act, 1894, were entrusted to the
County Councils to be, by them, made effective ; it is not,
therefore, asking too much of the County Council to call
upon them to undertake the protection of the rights of
common of so many parishes in the County.

The quantity of land that has been enclosed and appro-
priated by the Duchy, all of which has been shown to be
illegal, is astonishing ; and although the Duchy may now be
protected by the statutes, there is surely in such a body as
the Duchy of Cornwall a moral sense, in the face of the
judgment of Jessel on the right of inclosure, which would
move the Duchy to treat readily with the County Council,
if the Duchy were properly approached. If no approach is
made at all, if the County Council shew no sign, take no
interest whatever in Dartmoor, the natural conclusion on
the part of the Duchy would be, that the Devonshire people
do not value it, are careless of what becomes of it, and as
it is a troublesome property for the Duchy to manage, that it
had better be sold to the highest bidder.

It is not an uncommon characteristic in human nature not
to know the value of what we have until we have lost it.
When we have lost Dartmoor, there will be lamentations

COUNTY COUNCIL OP DEVONSHIRE. 221

throughout the land, but it will be too late, and we shall be
crying over spilt milk, like little children who have not the
foresight to see the value of what it is possible to lose.

I say, without hesitation, that it is the imperative duty of
the County Council to take up this matter without further
delay, and to exercise all their best powers, their knowledge
of affairs, and the business talent at their command, to open a
treaty for the purchase of Dartmoor with the Duchy of Corn-
wall, with all due propriety and respect for that Eoyal Office.

If it should be found that the London County Council had
forestalled us, and had already entered into a treaty with the
Duchy, we have only Parliament to protect us ; and, in that
case, we should have not only to promote a Bill in our own
interest, but also to oppose, with all our might, the Bill of
the London County Council, or of the Duchy itself, enabling
the one to buy and the other to selL

The water supply alone ought to be enough to rouse, for
the sake of their rights, the men of Okehampton, of
Tavistock, of Plymouth, Devonport, and Stonehouse, of Kings-
bridge, of Dartmouth and Totnes, of Torquay, of Newton
Abbot, of Teignmouth, of Ashburton and Buckfastleigh, of
Moreton Hampstead, of Chagford, of Barnstaple, and the
towns on the Taw.

Such a force would be ready to turn and rend the County
Council, if, by their neglect, they lost their right to a full
supply of pure water, their rights of commoQ, and the right
to enjoy free foot on the Forest.

If the present generation do not fully realise the value of
the Forest, generations to come will, and will curse the
apathy of those who lost it for Devonshire.

It is not too much for this, the Devonshire Association, to
ask the Devonshire County Council to take the matter into
serious consideration, without loss of time, seeing that loss of
time may be loss of Dartmoor. A Committee might be
appointed to inquire and report, which, at least, could put
the County Council in possession of the facts — a Com-
mittee of men who have some sympathy with those of
the West of Devon, who regard Dartmoor as a land of
great peculiarity, of great utility, of surpassing interest ; a
land of natural beauty, in some respects the more wild the
more beautiful, a study for those who delight to trace the
relics of primitive Man, a land in which the gentle rain from
Heaven droppeth in profusion, to cleanse and purify us,
giving us rich, deep valleys and pastures, charming us with
the scenery of woodland and river.

SAMUEL STODDON.

BT GEORGE M. DOB.
(Bead at Okehampton, July, 1895.)

In his Second Sheaf of Devon Bibliography, which was read
at the Barnstaple Meeting of the Devonshire Association in
1890, the Rev. J, I. Dredge includes the name of Samuel
Stoddon, who was one of the Nonconformist divines ejected
in 1662 from Buckland, Somersetshire. As he has there
given a most exhaustive account of the various works of
Samuel Stoddon, this paper must necessarily be very briet
Having, however, the privilege of claiming a rather close
connection with one of the descendants of the Stoddon
family, who has in his possession some relics, which have
been handed down for several generations, and are still
carefully preserved, I have ventured to contribute this little
addendum to Mr. Dredge's paper.
The articles to which I refer are : —

1. The original license by King Charles IL for Samuel

Stoddon to conduct service in a house at Woodbury.

2. A silver-headed walking-stick of Samuel Stoddon.

3. Contemporary portraits of Samuel Stoddon and his

wife.

All these are now in the possession of Mr. William Pring,
of the Mount, Mold, Flintshire, and came into his hands
through his grandmother, Mary Buncombe, of Staplehay,
near Taunton, whose maiden name was Stoddon, and so far
as I have been able to ascertain, she was the last of that
name.

I trust it will not be out of place for me to give a brief
description of each of the articles above referred to. The
license, a reduced facsimile of which accompanies this paper,
is in an excellent state of preservation. The greater portion
of it is printed, having the blanks filled up in writing, with

SAMUEL STODDON. 223

the name and persuasion of the licensee, and the place in
which he was licensed to "teach," together with the date, etc.
On the top left-hand corner are the remains of what appears
to be a red wafer or seal, with the signature " Charles 22.,"
and at the bottom is the signature " Arlington*9 It is on a
sheet of paper, 8£ inches by 11£ inches. The license runs
as follows : —

" Charles R

"Charles by the Grace of God King of England, Scotland,
France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c, To all Mayors,
Bayliffs, Constables, and other Our Officers and Ministers, Civil
and Military, whom it may concern, Greeting. In pursuance of
Our Declaration of the 15th of March 167 J We do hereby per-
mit and license Samuel Stodden of the Presbyterien Perswasion to
be a Teacher of the Congregation allowed by Us in a Roome or
Roomes in the howse of Andrew Holwill in Woodberry Devon for
the use of such as do not conform to the Church of England, who
are of the Perswasion commonly called Presbyterien. With further
license and permission to him the said Samuel Stodden to teach in
any place licensed and allowed by Us according to our said De-
claration.— Given at Our Court at Whitehall, the first day of May
in the 24th year of Our Eeign 1672.

" By His Majesties Command,

" Stodden a Teacher." " Arlington."

The stick is of lignum vitse, and is altogether 2 ft. 11£ in.
long, having on the top an interlaced design, with the initials
"S.S.," and the date "1675." This, too, is in excellent
condition, showing how it must have been treasured by
those who were, doubtless, proud to claim relationship with
one of the representatives of a body of learned and devout
men, who played no unimportant part in the history of
their country, the results of which are felt even at the
present day, and will be so, I venture to predict, as long
as our country endures.

Palmer, in his Nonconformists* Memorial, remarks that " it
is said that after his" (Stoddon's) "ejectment he practised
physic," an allusion to which is made by Stoddon in the
epistle dedicatory to his Gemitus Sanctorum, where he
speaks of having studied to be serviceable to the "bodily
health " of the inhabitants of Sidbury and the parts adjacent
in the County of Devon. The walking-stick in question is
just such a one as would form part of the regular outfit of
a physician of that period.

The portraits of Samuel Stoddon and his wife are in
oil, painted on canvas, and are evidently the work of an

224 SAMUEL STODDON.

artist of no mean ability. They are 2ft. 6in. by 2 ft. 1 in.
Of the latter I can say but little, save that, judging from her
countenance, Mrs. Stoddon appears to have been a lady
of a decidedly strong-minded character. That of Samuel
Stoddon is, undoubtedly, the original from which the
portrait in Palmer's Nonconformists Memorial was copied,
and which is there stated to be in the possession of Mr.
Stoddon, of Trull, near Taunton, for the two are almost
identical About six inches from the top of the picture,
on the right hand side, is this inscription : " (Etaiis Sua 40.
Ano ; 1676."

The two pictures were in a very shabby condition on
coming into Mr. Pring's possession, but fortunately were
not seriously damaged, and now that they have been care-
fully cleaned, &c, are in very good preservation, as may
be seen from the accompanying copies of them, which were
made in the present year (1895).

8 ,

6 5

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5 a 5 c ^ 8 V 5

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A SHORT CHAPTER FROM THE STORY OF
TORBAY, 1667.

BY PAUL q. KABKEBK.
(Bad ml Okahimpton, Jnly, 189S.)

What constituted Piracy in bygone days, must have been

a much-debated question, and which seems to have been

settled according to individual taste. In time of peace

things were bad enough, there was no lack of excitement;

but in time of war, and the free use of privateering, a life

afloat must have been as full of danger as the boldest and

most venturesome need desire. Whatever mistakes Cromwell

may have made during his rule of England, in one respect

at least, he was the right man in the right place ; he would

stand no nonsense in matters maritime. The nation was

better represented at sea then, than it had ever been before,

and life on the South Coast and in the Channel, must have

been blissful, compared to the period which preceded, and

immediately succeeded, the Protectorate. His admiral, Blake,

annihilated the Dutch Fleet; destroyed the Spanish Fleet

Santa Cruz ; bombarded Algiers, and burnt the piratical

ft there assembled ; and generally, to use a nautical

n-essiou, made things look a little more ship-shape.

And yet within ten years after the victory at Santa Cruz,

.at a change had come over the scene 1 The Stuarts had

:n restored, and the Merry Monarch was on the throne;

i much good be was doing there. In this particularly

irious year, 1667, the Dutch Fleet, under De Ruyter, had

tered the Thames, blown up the Fort at Sheerness, and

ik our ships at Chatham. Then, sailing down the Channel

i carrying everything before him, he looked into Torbay,

d made prizes of all the shipping lying at anchor there.

A CHAPTER FROM THE STORY OF TORBAY, 1667. 227

In this same year 1667, or rather, according to the historical
year, 1668, an incident occurred in Torbay, which although
trivial in itself, will show to what a contemptible condition
we had been brought.

England had made peace with France and Holland, and
was, to all appearances, on good terms with everybody ; but
Louis XIV. had declared war against Spain, with the view
of taking the Spanish Netherlands, on which he had cast long-
ing eyes. We having nothing to do with the quarrel were
neutral, and our ports were open to both parties as long as
they kept the peace.

On February 8th, the St Mary of Ostend was quietly
riding at anchor in Torbay, having been driven in by stress
of weather. Her Captain, Peter Mountsfield, would naturally
consider that being in English waters, he, a Spanish subject,
would be in perfect safety ; but the times were rough, and
right but too often lay with might While thus at his ease,
his dream of security was rudely interrupted by the appear-
ance of two French men-of-war coming round Berry Head,
and which, he may perhaps have known, were under the
command of La Roche, a right bold son of Neptune. This
gallant officer was one of the most distinguished men in the
French Navy ; he had done good service in various parts
of the world, and was high in favour with his master and
King. In 1666 his fleet of six vessels was defeated in one
of the many fights in the Channel, and he had been obliged
to surrender himself and his ship, Le Bubis, to Admiral Sir
Thomas Allin. When brought to England as a prisoner of
war, he was sent to Court, and received a most flattering
reception from King Charles, who gave him his liberty.
Victories were not common with us just then, for Mr. Samuel
Pepys' notes as follows :

" November 2nd. On board the Ruby, French prize, the only
ship-of-war we have taken from any of our enemies this year. It
seems a very good ship, but with galleries quite round the sterne
to walk in as a balcone, which will be taken down."

There were other reasons for treating La Roche generously,
in addition to the fact that the capture of his or any ship was
an unwonted occurrence. It appears that the English Royal
Family were somewhat indebted to this gentleman. During
our Civil wars, Prince Rupert, while on his way to France,
was nearly captured by a Parliamentarian vessel. He landed
at some small town, on the French coast, and the Roundhead
Captain threatened to blow down the place, if the refugee

228 A CHAPTER FROM THE STORY OF TORBA7, 1667.

were not given up. La Roche, who chanced to be present,
managed, by tact and firmness, to obviate this catastrophe;
and conducted the Prince to Nantes. If Rupert had been
surrendered to the English, he ran a risk of being sent to the
Tower, and perhaps to Tower Hill, in company with the
headsman ; that is, if the Parliamentarian Captain did not
string him up at a yard-arm: truly he was an unpopular
person with his uncle's foes, and would have received bat
scant mercy at their hands. Consequently, the Court party
would be only too pleased to make much of a man who had
been so useful.

In order to make this account of what took place complete,
we must make another quotation from Pepys' Diary.

"February 19th. In the evening to Whitehall, where I find
S* W. Coventry a great while with the Duke of York, in the
King's drawing-room ; they two talking together all alone, which
did mightily please me. I do hear how La Roche, a French
Captain, who was prisoner here, being with his ships at Plymouth,
hath played some freaks there, for which his men being beat oat of
the town, he hath put up a flag of defiance, and also some where
there about, did land with his men, and go a mile into the country,
and did some pranks, which sounds pretty odd to our disgrace;
but we are in a condition to bear anything."

La Roche had evidently been annoyed by the treatment
his men had received at Plymouth, in, perhaps, what looks
very like a riot, and was determined to have his revenge on
some one. As ill-luck would have it, he put into Torbay, and
saw the Ostender, and here was his chance. The Ostender
was a Spanish subject, the two nations were at war ; and he
would run the risk of the vessel being in English waters.

Captain Peter Mountsfield recognised the danger of his
position directly he saw the French flag, and raising his
anchor promptly, he brought the St. Mary "unto a small
village called Torkay, and there haled on shore within the
Peere, for securing themselves against the French men of
Warre, and landing their two gunns, with their amunition,
sailes and other materials belonging to their vessel, they put
them into the custody of Daniel! Luscombe, an inhabitant of
Torkay."

The next day, Sunday the 9th, La Roche sent several boat-
loads of men ashore, and marched them into "Torkay," where-
upon the Ostenders fled, after having first scuttled their
vessel. Where La Roche landed his men, we are not likely
to know ; perhaps on Tor Abbey Sands, and marched them
along the foot of the cliff, on the site of the present Torbay

A CHAPTER FROM THE STORY OF TORBAY, 1667. 229

Road : or if the tide was in, by the Rock Walk, for that was
the only pathway near the sea-line. They appear to have
found out where Mountsfield had hidden his guns, etc.,
etc., for the Frenchmen took them out of Luscombe's custody,
and carried them away; and then, having at low water
stopped the holes made in the St. Mary, took her out as
prize.

The little Peere, here alluded to, was in front of the house
on the Victoria Parade, now known as the Yacht Hotel. It
has long since been swept away, and perhaps partly buried
under the sea-wall, which forms the east side of the Old
Harbour.

Daniell Luscombe must have been a person of some im-
portance in those days. His tombstone is in Torre Church,
inside the altar rails, and the inscription says, " Here lyeth
the Body of Daniell Luscombe, Gent., of this Parish, who was
buried the 18th day of March, A.D., 1687." In the seven-
teenth century, and even later, the distinction between the
various social ranks was very clearly marked, and hence it
may be safely assumed that the description "Gent." would
not have been allowed, if there had not been some very
positive claim to the title. Indeed, the word "Gent." has
been cut a second time, and in a later type, as if one of his
descendants wished to emphasize the fact of his ancestor's
quality. Among the deeds of the Ridgeway family, is an
entry to the following effect: To Daniell Luscombe was
leased, January 29th, 1663, all the messuage or dwelling
house, situated at Fleete, lately in the occupation of Joanna
Yeo, widdo." Again, in 1670, the same Daniell Luscombe
had a grant of a lease, dated September 29th, of " all that
Messuage or Mansion House, situate, lying, or being at Fleete,
otherwise Torkey, within the Parish of Tormohun aforesaid,
hitherto in the occupation of Anthony Hoppins, late of
Torkey, blacksmith, deceased." What the " Gent." was going
to do with the blacksmith's house, deponent sayeth not;
perhaps he might have wanted it for stores, or other com-
mercial purposes; but evidently Daniell Luscombe was a
good and serviceable tenant of the Ridgeway family. At this
date, Tor Abbey was in the hands of the Cary family, and
Torwood belonged to the Ridgeways; and was purchased
from their descendants about one hundred years later by Sir
Robert Palk.

A certain amount of interest is attached to the use of the
word Torquay. In Luscombe's first lease, 1663, the name is
"Fleete," which means a salt-water tided creek, and which

230 A CHAPTER FROM THE STORY OF TORBAY, 1667.

name survives to-day, in Fleet Street In 1667-8, Mounts-
field describes the place of his misfortune as " Torkay " ; and
in 1670, the date of Luscombe's second lease, the place is
described as "Fleete, otherwise Torkey." It is clear then,
that between 1660 and 1670, the name of Torquay was
gradually being used, and introduced to describe the few
houses and sheds scattered around the harbour of these days,
and what is now called Fleet Street

La Roche and his prize gone, nothing remained for the '
owners to do but to make complaint of the outrage to the
proper authorities ; and so, in due course, the story reached
the ears of Mr. Samuel Fepys, and, on reference to this
worthy's Diary, we find the following :

"February 29th.-— They tell me how S* Thomas Allin hath
taken the Englishmen out of La Roche's ship, and taken from him
an Ostend prize which La Roche had fetched out of our harbours.
And at this day La Roche keeps upon our coasts, & had the
boldness to land some men & go a mile up into the country, &
there took some goods belonging to this prize out of a house there;
which our King resents, and, they say, hath wrote to the King of
France about. And everybody do think a war will follow, &
then in what a case we shall be for want of money, nobody
knows."

What comfort and relief poor Mountsfield would have
obtained from Charles II. writing to his brother, Louis of
France, is very doubtful — probably not much. It was lucky
for him that a good angel in the person of Sir Thomas Allin
interested himself in the matter. It is evident, from Allin's
reports, that he had been informed of La Roche's escapade,
but not having received orders from the Admiralty, he had
to act with great caution. Pepys makes a great point of the
" mile up into the country " — he mentions it twice. It may
mean from the point where the boats landed the men to
Torkey ; or it may be a bit of artistic license, inserted with
the view of bringing about a more speedy retribution on the
offenders, and restoration of the prize to its lawful owners.
On the other hand, this is not the only piece of bravado
perpetrated in English waters by La Roche; he quite well
knew what he was about, and that there was not the
slightest risk of a casus belli being made out of anything
he might do in Torbay, or at the "small village called
Torkay." Let us hope that Mountsfield received the St.
Mary from the hands of Sir Thomas Allin, and that he
took her safe home to Ostend ; certain it is, that she was
taken away from La Roche.

A CHAPTER FROM THE 8TORY OF TOSBAY, 1667. 231

EXTRACTS FROM THE STATE PAPERS QUOTED IN THE

PRECEDING.

No. L

" An accompt of what passed between Monsieur La Roche and
2 french men of war under his command, and a vessel called the
S'- Mary of Ostend, Capt. Peter Mountsfield, Commander, accord-
ing as the same is attested upon oath by Hendricke Walker of
Ostend, Mariner, late Pylot of the said shipp, S'- Mary, and Jan
de Eoo of Ostend, late Master's mate of the said shipp. Examined
before Thomas Newman, Deputy Vice Admiral of the County of
Devon, the 14th of February 1667. And alsoe by John de Sta of
Ostend, purser of the said shipp, Jacob de Blow, Lewis Francis,
& Francis Rodriguez Manin, all belonging to the said shipp.
Sworne & examined before S" Gills Sweit, Knight surrogate
unto the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty of England the
19th of February 1667.

"The said vessell, called the &• Mary of Ostend, being by
reason of foule weather and want of fresh water put into Tor Bay
in the aforesaid County of Devon and riding at an anchor there.
On Saturday the 8th of February, 1667, two French men of warre
under the command of Monsieur la Roche appeared, coming into
the Bay from the Westward. Upon which the Ostenders finding
them to be enemyes, they weighed anchor, and carried the said
vessell, S*- Mary into a small village called Torkay, and there
haled her on shore within the Peere for secureing themselves
against the French men of warre, and landing their two gunns,
with their amunition sailes and other materials belonging to their
vessell. They put them into the custody of Daniell Luscombe, an
inhabitant of Torkay.

" The 9th of February being Sunday Mons La Roche sent in
severall boates with Ordnance in them which at severall turnes
fetched from his shipps a considerable number of men armed with
musketts, and landed them at some distance from Torkay whence
the said men marched upp to Torkay in a warlike manner. Upon
whose approach the commander and company of the &** Mary not
being able to resist so great a number fled and left their vessell.
Which Mr La Roche's men forthwith by violence possessed them-
selves of as she was so lying close haled upp to the kay and
fastened there with 2 cables. And they alsoe entered into the
House of the said Daniell Luscombe and tooke from thence the
sailes, ammunition, and other materialls of the said vessell that
were landed there. And having at low water stopped the holes
that the Ostenders had made in the said vessell to sinke her that
the French might not carry her off, they carryed off the said
vessell the SL Mary into Tor Bay under the sterne of one of the
French shipps.

232 A CHAPTER FROM THE STORY OF TORBAY, 1667.

" Monsieur La Roche comeing afterwards with his shipps into
Cowes Road about the 15th of February 1667, mett with a boate
belonging to a vessell of Ostend commanded by Capt Barron,
wherein were the steersman of the said shipp and three mariners,
which boate and men they seized upon under the Command of
Cowes Castle, and doo still deteyne her and keepe the men
prisoners."

No. II.

" For Joseph Williamson Esqr

" Secretary to Lord Arlington

" Chief Secretary of State.

" This may advise you that Monsieur Le Roche, and one French
man of war more is here, who had taken the Mary of Ostend out
of the Chamber and Roades of his Majesty of Great Britaine and
which I have taken from him againe ; as alsoe 4 more, which are
Ostenders, and all the Englishe men they had aboard, which I
send ashoare at Portsmouth this day. There is a great fleet of
ships at Cowes, bound to the Westward ; here is arrived the
' Society ' from New England, very richly laden ; we have had
very bad weather that our boats could not goe ashoare, therefor I
could not advise you what passes here before this, not further but

" Tour assured friend & humble servant

"Thos Allin.
" S pithead, aboard the ' Monmouth '
this l8t of March 1667."

Domestic Papers. Charles II. Vol. 235. No. 175.

No. IIL

" For the Right Honourable the Lord Arlington

" Chief Secretary of State

" Right Honourable

" My good lord, your desires concerning the passages between
me and La Roche and also Van Swaers is hereunder according to
my journalL

" On the 25th of February (67) the wind at S. by E. I sailed by
Si Hellens towards the Spitthead, where I met two French ships
makeing out to sea ; they came turning to windward, theyr top-
sayles settled halfmast in acknowledging his Majesty's sovereignty
of the sea. They saluted me with Ave guns, I having no flag
answered him as many, knowing him to be a Commander of a
Squadron I called to him to come aboard, but at that time I had
no orders to stop him ; he sent his lieutenant aboard, and one Mr
Tosse of Callis that spake English; he told me that Capt La

A CHAPTER FROM THE STORY OF TORBAY, 1667. 233

Roche commanded the Julius Caesar, 40 gunner, and the other
was Capt Michaw, commander of the Tiger, 36 gunner ; I desired
the Lieutenant to send Mr Tosse aboard to entreat my old friend
Mons La Roche and Capt Shelton aboard and dine with me, we
coming all to an anchor together, which he did and they came
about ten in the morning, and I sent for the other Captaine, alsoe
our Captines coming all aboard, where we dined, and entertained
them till night, having sent my Pinnace to Portsmouth to look for
orders, but come away without any.

"The 26th the wind came to the S.S.W. & to the S.W. blew
very hard, yet about 9 the french ships had got under sayle stand-
ing out to sea, but their Pilots being unskilful!, brought them
againe into the Roade, within nere two miles of us; about ten
oclocke I received his Royal Highnesses orders, they left the &'*
Mary prize at anchor by us for want of men to weigh his anchors,
so 1 sent two boates and possest myself e of her; about 12 they
came both to an anchor ; I sent for our Captaines aboard & told
them I had received orders for the surprizing the (ship) taken
from Torbay, foure men which La Roche had taken out of an
Ostend man of wars boate under Cowes Castle, & all the English
that were on board them ; & for the present doing of it I ordered
them to heave up to the splices of their cables & to have all things
in readiness to cut together & set sayle when I should make them
a signe, and to anchor to seaboard of them that they should not
set sayle but they must fall aboard of us.

"This we did with all expedition, & being anchored in good
order, sent my boate for La Roche and Capt. Shelton ; La Roche
pretended himselfe sicke of his drinking the day before, but I
imagine he apprehended more danger, but sent his Lieutenant &
Capt. Shelton to whom I declared what I must take from him
which he did deliver without any manner of dispute & being
possessed of what I had orders for, weighed presently, & being in
shoald water, about 5 fathoms neare a sand called the horse, we
stood about two miles from them into deep water, and anchored
that night, sending away an expresse to his Royal Highness of
what had passed.

tt 27th ^\re g0£ our caDle8 that we cut & anchored and sayled to
the Spitthead where we had very foule weather. The first of
March being Sunday & handsome weather La Roche & his
Consort set sayle as they told us for Dieppe Roade, & had next
day a storm of wind westerly. Thus much for La Roche
*******

" Your honours most obliged servant

"Tho8 Allin
" aboard the Monmouth
in the Downes, this 3rd of June 1668."

Domestic State Papers. Charles II. Vol. 241, no. 61. A
VOL. XXVIL R

THE FEOSTS OF 1855 AND 1895, AS OBSERVED

AT TEIGNMOUTH.

BT W. 0. LAKE, M.D.

(Read at Okehampton, July, 1805.)

There were points in which the winter of the present year,
1895, has reminded me so much of the " Crimean " winter of
1855, that I have thought that a comparison of the meteor-
ological elements of the two periods, as observed in each case
by myself, at Teigninouth, might be of interest to the
members of the Devonshire Association.

The observations, in both cases, were taken in the north
garden of my house, by instruments as nearly as possible
alike, though not actually the same, from the breakage
of the original instruments. Those used in 1855 were
by Messrs. Negretti and Zambra, compared with a
standard and certified by Mr. Glaisher. Those used in the
present year were also by Messrs. Negretti and Zambra, and
have Kew certificates. The former instruments were placed
to the north of the house, at a distance of three feet and a-
half from its wall, on a stand constructed of a post
planted firmly in the ground, and having at its upper end a
slice of wood large enough to receive the thermometers, and
supplied at the top with a wooden pent projecting seven inches
outwards. By this means the instruments had around them a
free circulation of air, but were protected from radiation, while
they never received any of the rays of the sun, except for a short
time in the height of the summer just before sunset. The dry
and wet bulb thermometers had their bulbs at a height of 3 ft.
10 in. from the ground. The present instruments are placed in
the same garden, but in a Stevenson's stand, and sufficiently
far from the house to be in the full sunshine, except for a
short time in the depth of winter. In November, 1875,
I made some observations between two certified minimum
thermometers, one placed in the Stevenson stand, the other

THE FROSTS *? 1855 AND 1895. 235

in the old stand ; and the mean difference was only 0 2 in
excess, as to the readings of that in the old stand over that
in the new. I think, therefore, that we may fairly take the
observations for the two years as being directly comparable.

The month of October, 1854, had had a mean temperature
of 0*4 above the average, as drawn from the mean of
eighteen years. That of November had been 3'3 below the
average, while the mean maximum, mean minimum, and
mean temperature of December had been in each case fully
2*0 above the average. This temperature continued into the
opening month of 1855 ; and at the commencement of the
year, violets, laurustinus, chrysanthemums, and a scarlet
geranium, against the south wall of the house, were in bloom,
and the passion-flower showed its flower-buds half-expanded.
Mild weather continued till the 14th of the month, but
from the 10th till the 12th thick fog prevailed. On the
15th and 16th the temperature fell, and on the 17th
severe frost set in, and the minimum temperature fell
every night below the freezing - point till February the
4th. On three of these days the maximum temperature
was also below 32, and the wind throughout was from the
north-east or north. Snow fell on the 19th, measuring
003 inches, but thawed on the 22nd, on which day the
maximum temperature rose to 408. It snowed again, with
high wind, on the 30th, and again on February 1st, the depth
on these two days together being, when melted, 0*48 in.
February 2nd was a very bleak day, with high N.E. wind
and heavy snow, but in the evening this turned to sleet, and
on the next day to heavy rain, with a rise of temperature,
which broke up the frost for the time. The mingled snow,
sleet, and rain that fell, as measured on the morning of
February 3rd, amounted to 1*46 in. Three days of mild,
intensely damp weather now occurred, the maximum tempera-
ture rising from 29*7, on February 2nd, to 456 on February
3rd, and the minimum from 28*3, on the 3rd, to 410 on the
4th ; but on the 6th the temperature again fell. A little
snow fell on the 8th, changing to rain in the night, in
amount 0*75 in., and on this day a second period of
severe frost commenced, lasting till the 23rd of the
month. From the 8th to the 22nd of February the
minimum temperature was every night below the freezing
point, and on four days the maximum temperature also was
below 32. The wind was persistently from the N.E. and E.,
and the air was very dry. Nothing fell after the rain of the
nights of the 8th and 9th, till the 22nd, when snow fell,

R 2

236 THE FEOSTS OF 1855 AND 1895,

measuring, when melted, 007 in. Rain followed, with a rise
of temperature and westerly winds, and the frost finally gave
way, rain falling every day till the 5th of March.

Of these two periods of frost, the second was much more
severe than the first. During the first frost the mean
maximum temperature of the air was 361, the mean
minimum 27*9, the mean temperature 32*0, the mean
humidity 78 per cent. The lowest minima were 25*3 on
January 20th, and 25*4 on January 18th and 29th. The
highest maxima were 408 on January 22nd, and 40*2 on
January 26th; the lowest maxima 297 on February 3rd,
31*6 on January 31st, and 318 on January 20th. The
lowest mean temperature for a day was 28 5 on January 20th
and February 2nd. During the second frost the mean
maximum temperature was 33*2, the mean minimum 251,
the mean temperature 291, the mean humidity 65 per cent
The lowest minima were 200 on February 11th, and 20*8 on
the 15th. The highest maxima were 386 on February 9th,
and 366 on the 22nd; the lowest maxima, 266 on February
17th, 29-9 on the 13th, 30-2 on the 18th, and 30*3 on the 10th.
The lowest mean temperature for a day was 24*4 on February
17th.

The mean temperature of January, 1855, was 38'3
or 33 below the average; that of February 33*4, or 92
below the average ; that of March was 404, or 3*4 below the
average ; that of April 47*3, or 0*3 below the average ; that
of May 50*6, or 23 below the average ; that of June 57'2, or
1*5 below the average ; but the four months from July to
October had each a mean temperature respectively of 0 9,
1*5, 01, and 1*3, above the average. In November and
December there was, however, again a defect of mean
temperature, and greater in November than in December.

The effect of the frost on vegetation, followed as it was by
a backward Spring, was very apparent. The laurustinus
certainly continued in flower till the first week of February ;
but the lilac and laburnum were not in flower till the
third week in May, and the hawthorn not till June. The
myrtles were much cut, though not materially injured, and a
tine, but old, verbena (Aloyesia citriodora) in the garden
of the house next my own was killed, whilst a younger
plant in my own garden did not throw out its leaves till the
end of the third week in June.

In turning now to the present winter — the last months of
1894 had each a mean temperature above the average to the
extent of 0#8 for October, 1-9 for November,, and 3*1 for

AS OBSERVED AT TEIGNMOUTH. 237

December. Among other plants in my garden exhibiting
flowers on Christmas Day were the following roses : Gloire
de Dijon, Souvenir de Malmaison, and Celine Forestier ; the
hydrangea, the fuchsia, one of the sweet -willow -leaved
veronicas, pyrus Japonica, pansies, violets, Fragaria vesca,
and a large grey clematis (Lord Londesborough). Of wild
plants I had found in flower Knautia arvensis on December
3rd, on the 12th Rubus fruticosus and Ballota nigra, and
on the 27th a solitary specimen of Origanum vulgare. The
lowest minimum temperature in October was 35*7, in
November 373, and it had not been lower than 34*1 in
December, till the last night of the month, when it fell
to 292. On the first two nights of the year the minimum tem-
perature was below the freezing point, and again from January
7th to 11th, while a little snow fell on the 10th and 12th.
Notwithstanding this, the effect of the warmth of the fall
of the year was still bringing out several wild flowers, some as
lingerers from the Autumn, others as anticipators of the
Spring. On January 1st, I found Chcerophyllum sylvestre,
Sonctocs arvensis, and Lychnis dioica ; on the 11th, Lamium
jpurpureum and Veronica buxbaumii; and on the 18th,
Ranunculus bulbosus and Leontodon taraxacum; while in
the gardens during this time might be found the primrose,
polyanthus, and the purple large-leaved sweet veronica.

But on January 26th the frost regularly set in, and the
minimum temperature fell below the freezing-point on
every night, with the exception of that of February 19th,
till February 21st. On five days, viz., January 30th, and
February 1st, 5th, 6th, and 7th, the day temperature also
did not rise up to 32. A little snow had fallen on January
10th and on the 12th, followed by very heavy rain,
measuring altogether 188 inches, and rain fell every day till
the 25th. A little snow fell again on the 25th and 26th,
and snow on the 27th, 28th, and 29th, followed then by rain,
altogether 0*49 inch; and there was a sprinkling of snow
on the evening of the 31st, measuring, when melted, 0*01
inch ; but no fall of rain or snow was measured by me for
any day between January 31st and March 2nd. The total
rainfall for January was 520 inches.

During this frost of twenty-seven days' duration the
wind was continuously from the north and east, being on
some days very high, and the air was dry. The mean
maximum temperature for the period was 351, the mean
minimum 25*6, the mean temperature 303, the mean
humidity 72 per cent. The lowest minima were 17*3 on

238 THE FROSTS OF 1855 AND 1895,

February 6th, 194 on February 8th, 200 on February 13th,
and 20*9 on February 12th. The highest maxima were 40*9
on February 21st, 399 on February 19th, 39*8 on February
13th, and 38*0 on February 16th. The lowest maxima were
31-9 on February 1st, 310 on February 7th, 30*4 on February
5th, 301 on February 6th, and 28*5 on January 30th. The
lowest mean temperatures for a day were 23*7 on February
6th, 252 on February 7th, 274 on January 31st, and 27*5
on February 1st.

If now we compare the frosts of 1855 and 1895 together
as to temperature and humidity, their meteorological elements
will come out thus : —

17-3
23-7

1895— Duration, 27

days.

Mean Maximum .
„ Minimum
„ Temperature .
„ Humidity .

. 35-1
. 25-6
. 30.3
. 72

Lowest Minimum .
Lowest Mean Tempera-
ture for a day

1855. First frost — Duration, 18 days.

Mean Maximum .
„ Minimum
„ Temperature
„ Humidity .

. 361
. 27-9
. 320

. 78

Lowest Minimum .
Lowest Mean Tempera-
ture for a day

1855. Second frost — Duration

, 15 day 8.

Mean Maximum
,, Minimum
„ Temperature .
„ Humidity

. 33-2
. 25-1
. 29-1
. 65

Lowest Minimum .
Lowest Mean Tempera-
ture for a day .

25-3
28-5

200
24-4

If the two periods of frost in 1855 are taken together, we
then have : —

1855 — Duration, 33 days.

Mean Maximum , . .34*8
„ Minimum . . 26*7

„ Temperature .30*7

„ Humidity . .72

Or if, again, the whole period from January 17th to
February 22nd, in 1855, be taken, we have: —

1855 — Duration, 37 days.

Mean Maximum . . .38*1
„ Minimum . . 27*7

„ Temperature .32*9

„ Humidity ... 74

Owing to the separation of the two periods of the frost of
1855 by the three days of mild weather, and also the greater

AS OBSERVED AT TEIGNMOUTH.

231)

difference in length of the periods under comparison thus
produced, it may be of advantage to compare the fifteen days
of severest frost in 1855, February 8th to February 22nd,
with the fifteen days of the severest part of the frost of 1895,
viz., February 1st to the 15th. The elements for comparison
of these two periods will then come out as follows : —
1855 — Duration, 15 days.

»>

Lowest Minimum .
Lowest Mean Tempera-
ture for a day .

. 0-84 inch.

Lowest Minimum . •
Lowest Mean Tempera-
ture for a day .

200

24 4

173
23-7

Mean Maximum . .33*2
Minimum . . 25 '1
Temperature . . 29'1
Humidity . . 65
Total Rainfall
1895 — Duration, 15 days.
Mean Maximum . . 34*2
Minimum . .24*6
Temperature . .29*4
Humidity . . 68

Total Rainfall .... 0

The points of similarity between the frosts of 1855 and
1895 are the degree of the cold, the duration of the frost, its
occurrence in greatest severity during February, the great
dryness of the air, and the comparative absence of snow on
the ground during its greatest intensity. I have no record
of any period of prolonged frost at the same time of the year
of anything like the same intensity, or having the same
general character, nor, indeed, of any lengthened frost at any
time that can compare with either of these two periods,
except the frost of January, 1881 ; but this, besides being
earlier in the year, was accompanied by much snow lying
deeply on the ground, and showed a much greater humidity.
It was, however, a period of greater cold, especially at night
The minimum temperature was continuously below the
freezing-point from January 8th to the 27th, except on the
night of the 10th, and the elements of the frost, as compared
with those given above, were as follows : —

1881— Duration, 20 daya

15-7

Mean Maximum . .38*4

Minimum . . 23 9

Temperature. . 31*1

Humidity . . 83

1881 — 15 days of greatest severity, from January 12th to 26th.

Lowest Minimum .
Lowest Mean Tempera-
ture for a day .

24-8

Mean Maximum . .36*5
Minimum . 21*9

Temperature. . 29*2
Humidity . 84

Total Rainfall (with Snow)

Lowest Minimum . . 15*7
Lowest Mean Tempera-
ture for a day . .24*8

1*58 inches.

240 THE FROSTS OF 1855 AND 1895,

The mean temperature of the whole month of January,
1881, was 350, the lowest mean temperature for January
that I have any record of.

I have stated that the mean temperatures of October,
November, and December, 1894, were in each case above the
average. The mean temperature of January, 1895, was 36*2,
or 5'4 below the average. That of February was 32*4, or
10*2 below the average, the lowest mean temperature of
which I have any record for February, or, indeed, for any
month. The mean temperature of March was 43*9, or 01
above the average ; that of April, 49 3, or 1*7 above the
average ; that of May, 55*6, or 2'7 above the average ; and
that of June, 61*0, or 23 above the average.

The effect of the frost of 1895 on vegetation was equally
severe with that of 1855.

The tender veronicas were cut oft'; the double wall-
flowers were largely killed, and even the white arabis
was severely handled; while at the close of the frost the
grass itself was faded and burnt, as after an unusually
dry and hot summer, and the very hedges looked bare
and withered. The myrtles were much cut, but not seriously
hurt, and a fine verbena (Aloyesia citriodora) against the wall
of my house, some twenty years old or more, and fully
fifteen feet in height, was cut down to the lowest parts
of the stock, though not killed. The favourable weather,
however, of the spring, aided perhaps by the warmth
of the previous fall, had its influence on vegetation, back-
ward though it was. At the very close of the frost the
snowdrops appeared in the garden, followed soon after
by the crocuses. Cardamine hirsuta, and Ranunculus
ficaria were in flower on the 14th March, and Veronica
kedcri*olia on the 21st, but I did not notice Lamium
purpureum in flower again till the 30th, nor was PotentUla
fragariastrum in flower till the 9th April. The blackthorn
(Prunus wdgaris) I found in flower in the third week of
April. The verbena, mentioned above, was shooting out its
fragrant leaves at the very commencement of May, and the
horse-chestnut and lilac were in bloom in the second week of
that month. When the frost had once passed the grass rapidly
recovered itself, and soon showed a verdure the more vivid,
perhaps, by contrast with its former faded state ; while the
high temperature of the second week of May so forced on the
still backward foliage of the trees, that before the middle of
the month the elms and beeches were fully clothed, and glad-
dening the sight with their fresh beauty in the hues of spring.

AS OBSERVED AT TEIGNMOUTH. 241

I have subjoined tables giving the maximum and mini-
mum shade temperatures, the humidity, the wind, and
the rainfall for each day in January and February, 1855, and
January and February, 1895- The degrees of humidity for
1855 have been re-calculated according to the Hygrometrieal
Tables, of Mr. Glaisher, published in 1869 ; and the force of
the wind in 1855 has been given according to the scale 0-12.

1855,

Thermometers in the shade.

FEBRUARY.

Mm. 41. 9 34-S 85 Total 0.39 Una. 37-6 Z9.3 81 Total 3. 61

383 33-4

THE FROSTS OF 1855 AND 189G.

1895.

9 a.m. Thermometers in the shade.

JANUARY. FEBRUARY.

PROFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH IN

SOUTH DEVON.

BT A. R. HUNT, M.A., F.L.8., F.G.8.
(Read at Okehampton, July, 1895.)

PREFACE.

It is impossible to look back over the records of the Devon-
shire Association, without noticing how suddenly geological
research, which at one time occupied its full share of our
Transactions, died out Old workers ceased to contribute,
and no young ones came forward — a remarkable fact, when
it is considered what an excellent opportunity for publica-
tion the Association offers to any serious investigator. The
explanation suggested in the following paper is that no
provincial work can survive in the face of persistent neglect,
opposition, misrepresentation, and obloquy, by representative
leaders of the science at headquarters. Research under
such circumstances is practically impossible. The Oeological
Society was founded to promote the study of the mineral
structure of the earth. For many years past considerable
effort has been made, and with much success, on the part of
influential members, both of that Society and of the British
Association, to repress such study. The science boycott is a
far more formidable engine than might at first sight appear,
one of its indirect effects being that the boycottee is not
favoured with reprints of scientific papers. Indeed, the
chief advantage of getting a paper into the Journal of the
Geological Society is the cross in the list of members classing
a Fellow as among the active workers of the Society. I felt
my way towards this useful mark on three occasions, with
reference to the Submarine Geology of the Channel, Waves,
and the Rounding of Sand-grains ; but discretion being the
better part of valour, I made a strategic movement to the rear.
Having regard to the manner in which that august body

244 PROFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH

of scientists suppressed the Kent's Cavern evidence in
1846, thereby losing for Great Britain the honour of
solving the problem of the antiquity of man, I deemed
it best to offer my facts to the Society with much the
same reserve as the Sibyl dealt with King Tarquin, and
with much the same result except that the Sibyl returned,
and I did not. l One thing I must admit with utmost grati-
tude. When the scientific boycott was well nigh triumphant,
the Editors of the Geological Magazine gave me access to
their hospitable columns, than which no knight could wish
a fairer field.

In such miscellaneous work as mine has been, all success
must necessarily depend on the helping hands of colleagues.
Among those to whom my thanks are specially due, are my
Cambridge friends, who have one and all been most helpful,
from my first half-hour's demonstration on the microscope
by Mr. Tawney, at the commencement of the Channel blocks
research, to the final acceptance of the collection by Professor
Hughes for the Museum, and long after. To the Director-
General and the Members of the Survey I am particularly
grateful for their camaraderie while, for a short time, working
at the Devon schists. My second half-hour's demonstration
on the microscope, this time at Jermyn Street from Mr.
Teall, enabled me, when the time came, to detect tourmaline
at the Start; and it is the simple truth that without
Mr. Ussher I should never have tackled the schists at all,
and without Mr. Teall I should not have had the technical
skill to recognise the detrital tourmaline. Of Mr. Pengelly
and Mr. Tawney it is hard to speak ; their loss seems greater
as the years roll on. The memory of the just is blessed.
Requiescant in pace.

It is now about six years since at Tavistock in 1889, in
my concluding paper on the Submarine Geology of the
English Channel off the coast of South Devon, I en-
deavoured to sum up the conflicting arguments for and
against the Devonian age of the Devonshire schists, which
had been maintained up to the date referred to.

This very old problem had been started afresh at the
Ilfracombe Meeting of the Devonshire Association, by my
paper on a block of granite from the Salcombe fishing
grounds. That paper had been handed to Mr. Pengelly
in manuscript, to enable him to utilise its facts in the

1 Vide Appendix.

IN SOUTH DEVON. 245

preparation of his own paper on "The Metamorphosis
of the Eocks extending from Hope Cove to Start Bay,
South Devon" {Trans. Dev. Assoc. 1879), which followed
it immediately in the Transactions, and in which Mr.
Pengelly assumed2 that the slates to the northward
of the schists "are certainly, and the schists probably,
amongst the most recent Devonian deposits in South
Devon." Mr. Pengelly maintained, in conclusion, that
the hypothesis of a submarine granitoid formation, ex-
tending from the Channel to Dartmoor, accounted for,
(1) the northerly dip, as well as (2) the metamorphosis
of the Start and Bolt schists; (3) for the gneissic and,
perhaps, granitic origin of the Eddystone rocks ; (4) for
the block of granite caught by the trawler in October,
1878 ; (5) for the blocks of the same kind of rock lying
beneath the cliffs, east of the Prawle ; and (6) for the crowd
of granitoid pebbles immediately east of the River Erme.

Now, this elaborate deduction was based on one of the
most misleading coincidences which ever entrapped a
cautious geologist. Geologists had declared that certain
geological phenomena on shore, rendered it probable that
the Dartmoor granite extended as a subterranean formation
under South Devon, and probably formed the floor of the
Channel off the southern headlands of the county. I was
fortunate enough to succeed in obtaining a large number
of crystalline rocks from the very locality indicated as likely
to supply them. Most naturally it was concluded that the
granitoid rocks found were the ones sought for, and that the
post-Carboniferous Dartmoor rocks really reappeared under
the waters of the English Channel.

Before very long, evidence came to hand that the Channel
crystalline rocks were very different from the Dartmoor
varieties ; were probably much older, and therefore unequal
to the task of giving rise to the metamorphic phenomena
with which they had been credited. The Channel rocks,
indeed, were considered of so generally ancient a type, in
the case of the first half-dozen or so brought to land, that
my colleague in the investigation, the late Mr. E. B. Tawney,
suspected that the Devon schists might be pre-Cambrian,
in other words Archaean, and took an early opportunity to
examine them, in the expectation of being first in the field
to proclaim their antiquity ; or, more strictly speaking, to

2 '• It must be needless to remark that we are here dealing, not with the
age of the Start and Bolt as rocks, but with the era of their metamorphosis."
Pengelly, Trans. Dev. Assoc, xl 825.

246 PROFESSORIAL AMD AMATEUR RESEARCH

prove their antiquity, for the great age of the schists was
one of the hypotheses of De La Beche and other geologists.
Mr. Tawney came, he saw, but in this case he did not
conquer. He returned to Cambridge, hoping at some future
time to find leisure to tackle the problem effectually.

In the following year I was compelled to admit that
the hypothesis of the Dartmoor granite reappearing in the
English Channel must be given up, albeit that this hypo-
thesis had itself led to the discovery of the Channel granites.
In 1881, I wrote: "If these typical granites and gneisses
are of the age suggested (i.e. pre-Devonian), they can clearly
have no claim to having had anything to do with the
metamorphosis of the more modern Devonian slates of the
Start and Bolt district" But I still clung to the many
other crystalline rocks, syenite, gabbro, diabase, and diorite,
as being possibly of later age than the deposition of the
Devon schists, so firmly engrained had been the doctrine
that the schists were Devonian, and subsequently metamor-
phosed by some igneous rock in their neighbourhood.

In December, 1882, Mr. E. B. Tawney went abroad for
the Christmas vacation, and there died before the close of
the year. When in Devonshire he had been a member of the
Devon Association, and had contributed to its Transactions.
His descriptions of rocks, appended to my own earlier Channel
papers, are models of what such descriptions should be ;
descriptions accurate and detailed of the minerals contained,
and of their mode of occurrence — the full facts, unbiassed,
left to speak for themselves.

On the death of Mr. Tawney, I asked Professor Bonney to
fill the void, as otherwise the Channel research could not
continue. This he most kindly consented to do, concluding
his reply with the cordial words, " So I will do my best to
supply Mr. Tawney's place." This was written in February,
1883. In my paper in August, 1883 (read at Exmouth),
there appeared Mr. Tawney 's last six rock analyses, and
Professor Bonney's first three.

In the meantime, about a month after consenting to assist
me, Professor Bonney, at Easter 1883, spent a few days on
the Devonshire schists, and subsequently in November of
the same year read a paper on the subject to the Geological
Society of London. In this paper he claimed the Devon
schists as of Archaean age, whilst expressing the opinion
that they could not u be referred to the earlier portion of it."8

8 Q. J. G. S. xl. 24.

IN SOUTH DEVON. 247

Had Professor Bonney given me any hint as to his inten-
tions, I could have warned him as to Mr. Tawney's inability
to confirm his own pre-conceived idea that the schists were
pre-Cambrian. As it was, I found myself in a difficulty. I
had never myself wavered from the belief that the schists
were Devonian, but in future Professor Bonney regarded
any difference of opinion somewhat in the light of an
impertinence.4 I confess that Professor Bonney's confidence
ultimately shook me, and I accepted his opinion at his own
estimate.

In the discussion that followed Prof. Bonney's paper, Dr.
Hicks, F.R.S., agreed with the view that the schists were
among the newer of the Archaean series. On the same
occasion, in reply to a question, the Professor said that " the
rocks dredged by Mr. Hunt in the Channel, were generally
of a much older type than those of South Devon." This,
under the circumstances, was equivalent to saying they were
much older than the newer Archteans : a hard saying in the
case of the sandstones, diabase, killas, diorites, gabbros,
and serpentine ; to say nothing of the granites of unknown
age.

It will be observed that the great South Devon problem
had executed a complete volte face. Prom Devonian rocks,
metamorphosed by post-Carboniferous granites, the schists
had become a series of newer Archseans, abutting against
older Archaean crystalline rocks in the Channel

The South Devon problem having been so promptly
packed up and put away, I looked about for some unoccu-
pied field for work, and lighted on Dartmoor ; oblivious, or
ignorant, of the fact that my friends, Messrs. Ussher and
Worth, had already made that district their own. Before
discovering this fact, I had evolved a theory that the Dart-
moor granite was an Archaean granite, much altered and
partially re-dissolved in post-Carboniferous times. Thus, for
a time, on the Dartmoor question, we three were at daggers
drawn — Mr. Ussher with his laccolite, Mr. Worth with his
volcano, and myself with my Archaean granite. Needless
to say, we always assisted each other, regardless of conse-
quences. I well remember casually announcing my heresy
to Mr. Ussher, and his reply, "My dear friend, you will
throw yourself over a precipice " ; to which I could but
rejoin, " Then I 'm going over."

4 Should any of my friends consider me an unwarranted intruder into
this problem, I ask them in fairness to read the first paragraph of Mr.
Pengelly's paper on the " Devon Schists.'1 (Trans. Dev. Assoc, xi. 819.)

248 PROFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH

My Dartmoor work indirectly threw me back on the
schists, as the two problems are, in fact, intimately con-
nected, and led me to write the following passage, which one
might suppose to be couched in terms sufficiently humble to
appease the most exacting Professor :

"It would be very convenient for the theory I am advocating,
could the old view be maintained, that the South Devon schists
are altered Devonians ; but in the face of Professor Bonner's con-
viction that they are of Archaean age, I hesitate to express an
opinion one way or the other." 5

In other words, my facts tended to confirm the Devonian
theory of the schists — so much the worse for the facts, when
pitted against professorial opinion.

In the meantime, in the years 1887, 1888, and 1889, Mr.
A. Somervail had contributed to our Transactions three most
important papers on the Metamorphic Eocks of South
Devon, in which he upheld their Devonian age. He had, I
believe, the distinguished honour, at that time, of being the
only geologist to hold that view. One of the most import-
ant points made by Mr. Somervail, lay in his insistence on
the significance of the volcanic rocks (greenstones) in the
neighbourhood of Dartmouth, in connection with the chloritic
rocks in the metamorphic district.

Mr. Somervail, at that time, was a member of the Council
of the Devonshire Association, whose communications were
esteemed, and printed in extenso ; a writer, too, whose pen
never wandered from the path of the strictest and most
punctilious courtesy. He had, however, dared to express an
opinion which did not coincide with the novel Archaean
views of Professor Bonney, so he was treated to one of those
contemptuous incidental comments peculiar to that distin-
guished geologist.

" As I am writing, I may as well briefly notice another criticism
on some work of mine in the South-west ... As the writer has
4 to confess to much ignorance as to the methods and results of
microscopic research/ and the question is one in which such
methods are essential in order to distinguish real differences, and
avoid being misled by superficial resemblances, I cannot admit that
he is qualified to investigate the subject, or waste time by discuss-
ing it with him,6 and will only say that though, since I wrote the

8 Trans. Dev. Assoc, xxi. 255.

6 This is practically a refusal to give Mr. Somervail the benefit of the
Professor's criticism, with reasons for disagreeing. Yet in 1886, in the
Presidential Address from the Chair of Sec. C, Professor Bonney had
publicly thanked Mr. Somervail for assistance rendered in the way of
specimens ! And after all, it appears that Mr. Somervail was right and the
Professor wrong.

IN SOUTH DEVON. 249

paper, I have frequently examined my specimens and slides, I
have seen no reason to alter my opinion as to the separateness of
the two groups of rocks. ... It would be thought strange if any-
one were to enter into a dispute as to the interpretation of a
corrupt passage in a chorus of a tragedy of iEschylus, without a
preliminary study of the niceties of the Greek language ; yet this
is the course which some persons follow in petrloogy, and seem to
think that thereby they are doing a service to science."7

Here the Professor is quite mistaken ; were a Latin
scholar fortunate enough to find an ancient Latin version of
the tragedies of ^Eschylus, he would be in a position to
maintain an opinion against the conjectures, surmises, and
emendations of our best Greek scholars, founded on their
rotten and ragged manuscripts. Now, Professor Bonney
seems to have staked his reputation on a very fragmentary
petrological palimpsest, with all the original record obscured
by secondary characters. Mr. Somervail only attempted to
check and test Professor Bonney's conjectures and surmises,
based on the said fragment, with the assistance of a well-
preserved stratigraphical record, apparently treating of the
same subject

It will be acknowledged that such a severe stricture as the
above, by a past President and Vice-President of the
Geological Society, on a prominent member of the Devon
Association, and of the Torquay Natural History Society,
was not calculated to strengthen those Societies, or to
promote provincial research.

My own interest in the schists was, at the time referred
to, dormant, and so far as I was myself concerned, I paid
little attention to the controversy, until my friend, Mr.
W. A. E. Ussher, f.g.s., of the Geological Survey, who had
been for long re-mapping the area between Torquay and Dart-
moor, crossed the Dart and approached the much-debated
schists. It was obvious that the problem was now going to
be attacked, not only by a most skilful stratigraphist, but by
a geologist whose mind was saturated with the details and
characters of the Devonian strata. Such an opportunity had
never before occurred, and may well never occur again.

When mapping between Dartmouth and Slapton Sands,
Mr. Ussher was kind enough to allow me to accompany him
on three separate occasions, to learn a little of the details of
field-work with map and hammer. The first day my atten-
tion was so much attracted by the raised-beach problems,
that the questions of slates and volcanics seemed of minor

7 Geological Magazine, 1887, p. 574.
VOL. XXVII. S

250 PROFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH

interest; but when once the fact dawned on me that the
chlorite schists and mica schists on the south were
paralleled by the slates and volcanic rocks on the north, my
old interest in the metamorphic problem was renewed and
intensified. My self-allotted task was now to couple the
two series of rocks together in as many ways as possible, for
slicing and microscopic examination. Having made a small
collection of couples, I submitted the slides to Mr. A.
Harker, F.G.S., with very little information as to localities, my
object being to get a perfectly unbiassed opinion ; and so
uninfluenced was Mr. Harker, that, as may be seen in his
descriptions, he disconnected my couples : Bx from B2, and
Cx from C28; so that he proved himself unconscious of the
intention on my part to keep each of those couples together.
On the receipt of Mr. Harker's report, a curious coincidence
occurred. I had written to Mr. Ussher, asking how the
stratigraphical evidence was tending, and on the very day
Mr. Harker's report arrived, the following letter from Mr.
Ussher also came to hand : —

"Rookfields, Torquay, 19th May, 1891.
"My Dear Hunt, — In reply to yours of 18th inst As far as
my investigations of the Start and Prawle areas have gone, I have
been unable to obtain a shred of evidence from the stratigraphical
side in favour of the Archaean age of the mica schists and so-called
chloritic rocks, or, indeed, to endorse De La Beche's opinion re-
specting them (pp. 35, 36, Report on Geology of Cornwall and
Devon) as being an older series than the then termed grauwacke."

Mr. Ussher's permission to use this letter was granted
after he had finished and left the schists, so it was not
modified by his subsequent work.

Geologists will, I think, admit that this strong strati-
graphical testimony, confirming my own microscopic work,
afforded strong primd facie evidence of the non- Archaean age
of the schists.

However, still stronger evidence was close at hand. Mr.
Harker had detected tourmaline in the sandstone Clv but had
not noticed it in C2, its schist couple. Now it flashed across
my mind one night, while lying awake, that it would be a
splendid point if I could find tourmaline in C2. Next day I
searched the slide Mr. Harker had returned, and naturally
failed to find more than Mr. Harker had himself found, but
I had a duplicate slide, and in this duplicate there proved to
be a single minute fragment of detrital tourmaline. Thus

8 Qcol Mag. Aug. 1892, p. 347.

IN SOUTH DEVON., 251,

this mineral was no chance discovery, but had been specially
sought. Several more slices were now cut, each of which
proved to contain detrital tourmaline. As all, so far,
depended on one hand specimen, I went to the Start, sought
diligently for an hour, and at last found one bit of rock, in
situ, which seemed promising. This rock proved to contain
more perfect crystals of detrital tourmaline than the one
collected by Mr. Somervail. This discovery of tourmaline,
under the circumstances, seemed so important that I deter-
mined to bring it before the British Association at Cardiff.
But being very anxious not to forestall Mr. Ussher's conclu-
sions, I induced Mr. Ussher to submit a paper at the same
meeting, to take precedence of mine. The reception of these
papers was most disappointing, and I was actually stopped
in my remarks on Mr. Ussher's paper by the Chairman, and
requested to continue them conversationally, and the meeting
was closed long before the usual time.

The abstract of the tourmaline paper was published in the
Geological Magazine; but having no reprints, I gave Professor
Bonney a friendly notice that it had appeared. The Pro-
fessor replied, in an equally friendly tone, offering to examine
some sections of the Channel rocks for me, but with reference
to the schists, declared that he did not mean to enter into
any controversy on the subject until his shield was struck by
a knight of equal experience.

Though having no desire for controversy, this declaration
raised a difficulty. I knew Professor Bonney's paper, so to
speak, by heart, and had dismissed it as absolutely valueless.
But in writing myself on the problem, I scarcely knew how
to deal with the Professor, after such an intimation of his
negative intentions. On taking weighty advice, I was
counselled to go my own way independently, and leave my
opponent alone.

This was done in my paper published in the Geological
Magazine, with two very slight exceptions. Greatly fearing
that my antagonist would retreat from his Archaean position,
I stated his views clearly, and this little ruse succeeded
beyond anticipation.

Very much to my surprise, in October following (1892),
Professor Bonney attacked me violently in the Geological
Magazine ; after his "knight of equal experience " remark had
thrown me completely off my guard, and caused me to forego
the controversial advantage of a critical review of his 1883
paper. This letter was very unguarded ; almost every line
could be pulverized, but I merely fenced with the attack in

252 PROFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH

the same periodical in the following December. However, in
January, the Professor wrote a very serious letter, seeing that
he was a Vice-President of the Geological Society, and I was
at the time President of the Teign Naturalist Field Club,
senior Vice-President of the Torquay Natural History
Society, Vice-President and acting President of the Torquay
Photo. Association, and Vice-President elect of the Devon-
shire Association; not to say a Fellow of the Geological
Society, and a fellow-member with him of the Athenaeum
Club. This letter charged me with misrepresentation
by selective quotation, and with general ignorance. The
first charge was untrue, and the second, though true, was
not one for the Professor to make. To make the matter
worse, within a few weeks of the publication of this letter, I
was the recipient of the greatest compliment in the power of
Devonshire naturalists to bestow, viz., an invitation to allow
myself to be proposed as President of the Devonshire
Association; an invitation I would not entertain for an
instant, as its acceptance (however gratifying to personal
vanity, as the last Presidential Address on Geology was from
the now late President of the Geological Society) could not
fail, under the circumstances, to degrade the Association in
the eyes of the Geological world. Personally, when certain as
to a matter of fact, I care not for the opinion of the Royal
Society, Geological Society, British Association, or any other
body, ignorant of that particular fact But I am strongly of
opinion that a worker who has been treated with contempt
by officers of the Geological Society, and of the British
Association, is not morally eligible to be the representative
of a great county Society with an unblemished record of
work performed.

Be that as it may, by the accident of the moment, I was
a representative of nearly all our South Devon working
scientific societies, and mud thrown at me would indirectly
hit them. Hence my detailed criticism of Professor Bonney's
South Devon paper, printed privately and forwarded to the
leading Fellows of the Geological Society, at home and
abroad.9 Some friends have considered it too severe ; and,
doubtless, between private individuals it would have been
so; but it was practically a defence of provincial societies
and workers against the attacks of a past president, and a
member of the Council, of the Geological Society.

9 "An Examination of some of the evidence advanced by the Rev. Professor
T. G. Bonney, D Sc., in support of the Archaean age of the Devonshire
Schists."

IN SOUTH DEVON. 253

Nothing further occurred in the contest until March of
last year, 1894, when the report of the Geological Survey
(1892) was noticed in Nature.

Eeferring to the Devon schists under the heading,
"Devonian,"1 the Director -General quotes a report of
Mr. J. H. H. Teall, F.R.S., to the effect "that the detailed
examination of the rocks, from the metamorphic area of
South Devon, has brought to light the fact that the pre-
viously published descriptions of the green varieties of
rock were very imperfect . . . ."

Comparison is also made between the "green rocks"
of South Devon, and the Devonian rocks of the Hartz.

Let us now sum up the opinions of specialists of the
Geological Survey, as to the Devonshire schists. They
are as follows: —

1. Not a shred of evidence, stratigraphically, that they are
older than Devonian.

2. All previous descriptions of the green rocks, and there-
fore Professor Bonney's, very imperfect.

3. The Devonshire "green rocks" (schists), similar to
the Devonians of the Hartz.

All this evidence is entirely supplementary to my own ;
and it may fairly be asked whether a primd facie case
for the Devonian age of the Devonshire schists has not
been established : one which any Grand Jury of Geologists
would send for trial ?

Yet, in spite of all this consensus of evidence, Pro-
fessor Bonney's tactics have been to ignore it absolutely.
On my calling attention to a special instance of such evasion
in Nature, the Professor replied as follows, in the same
contemptuous, incidental manner2 he makes a practice of
employing when depreciating amateurs : — " It may save time
to add that I have observed how a remark of mine has again
stirred up Mr. A R. Hunt in defence of Devonian schists.
In regard to his letter, I content myself with repeating what
I have already said" (where?) "viz., that either I have
wasted a good many years in study bearing on this question,
both in the field and with the microscope, or his ' evidence '
is of little value, and his knives of the wrong temper for the
dissection which he has essayed. He will not succeed in
drawing me into a controversy with him on this question.

1 Nature, xlix. 497.
8 See ante, p. 248.

254 PROFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH

Life is short"8 My reply to this personal attack was
suppressed by Nature.*

Now, so far as I can gather from published papers and
reports, Professor Bonney has against him in this question,
Sir A. Geikie, Messrs. Somervail, Teall, and Ussher, and
myself. Yet he takes his stand on the unprecedented argu-
ment that we cannot be right, because if so he must be
wrong. Papal infallibility is nothing to this, for, according
to Roman Catholic authorities, the Pope is only held to be
infallible " when it becomes necessary to decide .... what
is the doctrine of the Church concerning faith or morals :
then the Pope, by God's providence, is guaranteed against
deciding erroneously."6 There is no such simple way of
correcting geologic error recognised by geologists.

But the worst of the matter is, that not only does Pro-
fessor Bonney bring his great influence to bear to stifle
much-needed discussion on the Devonshire schists, but
Nature, by suppressing the case for the defendant, may lead
geologists unacquainted with the facts to believe that no
discussion is needed.

It is well that geologists should realise the fact that,
by this continued opposition to further research, an oppor-
tunity has been lost which can scarcely recur, viz., the
opportunity afforded by the examination of almost every
rood of the debatable ground by Mr. Ussher, in the course
of his recent minute survey. Any objections or theories
advanced then, could have been at once put to the test.
For instance, take the case of the tourmaline rock at the
Start : Mr. Ussher accepted a standing commission from
me to match that rock, if possible, anywhere between
the Start and the Bolt Tail. The nearest he could do
for me was to produce specimens of apparently the same
rock in a more advanced stage of metamorphism, with
all original characters obscured. After this it is not very
likely that this particular rock, retaining its sedimentary

* Nature, xlix. 576.

4 An amateur with an unorthodox fact for publication is often in a
dilemma. If the point be both important and novel, the Editor of a periodi-
cal may well be in doubt as to publishing. If the latter commits it to the
W. P. B. well and good ; but if he refers it to an orthodox expert before
doing so, he will in all probability hand the discoverer, bound hand and
foot, to his opponents. So far as my experience goes, the prospect of
the W. P. B., is in direct proportion to the importance of the communication.
However, on the question of writing at all, a casual dinner-acquaintance at
the Sheffield meeting of the British Association remarked somewhat cynic-
ally, "I never write unless I am paid for it" ; a practical scientist and a wise.

5 Tiic Threshold of the Catholic Church (imprimatur, Cardinal Manning),

IN SOUTH DEVON. 255

character, will be found elsewhere than at the Start, which
thus becomes the final point of departure of the sand-
stones for the unknown region of complete metamorphism.

Friends have asked me whether I have continued the
study of the Devon schists. They will see from the
foregoing pages that the equable mind essential to successful
research has been rendered well-nigh impossible of attain-
ment

Amateurs, as a rule, are very easily snuffed out. When
there are so many pleasanter pursuits, there is ever the
temptation to shirk the dagger of the assassin. But in the
present case, so much is at stake, the battle must be fought
out to the bitter end. Certain prominent penologists have
maintained that the microscope can by itself determine the
age of certain rocks, of which rocks the Devon schists are
examples. So the question at issue is whether this claim
can be upheld. If not, half the petrology of the last two
decades will vanish as mist. This momentous question can
be reduced to a couple of slides, of schist and sandstone ;
outside of which, all the literature of petrology may be irrele-
vant and beside the point. Microscopists, however, have
reason to be satisfied as to one thing. My own evidence is
entirely based on the microscope itself; so the microscope
wins in any event. Had it been left to map and hammer to
prove the petrological microscope untrustworthy, it might
have been many a long year before the confidence, which is
its fair due, would have been re-established.

The principle involved in Professor Bonney's rejection of
evidence without examination, is of such grave importance
that I trust my colleagues, one and all, will give it the
attention it deserves. The obvious attempt to escape from a
false position on a false issue, is too transparent to succeed.
The attempt is made to lead geologists to believe that a mere
tyro has ventured to pit his opinion against that of the
greatest authority in the four continents. Nothing of the sort.
If any student is content to accept my opinion or any one
else's, without evidence, he is worthy of all contempt. The
Rev. Professor Bonney belongs to the only profession protected
by law from contradiction in its public professional utterances.
I have the honour to belong to a profession whose chiefs are
compelled by law to give their reasons for their public judg-
ments, and whose rank and file are expected to fortify their
opinions with case and precedent, often the only evidence
available under the circumstances. The gravamen of the
Professor's charge was that I attempted some of the most

256 PROFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH

difficult penological problems. Quite so. The Devonshire
Association for the Advancement of Science was never estab-
lished for its members to confine themselves to the study of
text books and primers. The objection, no doubt, is to the
examination of the Devon granites and the Devon schists ;
and I am free to confess, that when I commenced the study I
knew little of either. The granite problem is unquestionably
most difficult, while the schists are easier. Regarding the
former, my only hesitation was touching a problem rendered
classical by Dr. Sorby. But when Dr. Sorby was kind
enough to express his approval of my attacking the problem,
and when subsequently Mr. Teall offered me his collection of
granites for comparison, it became almost a duty to make the
attempt.

But this new doctrine that students must not attempt
difficult problems, would not only be fatal to research, but
has been quite unknown in scientific circles. Why, I myself
have had Stokes, helping me with waves; Prestwich, with
quaternary deposits ; Pengelly, with caverns ; Sorby, with
sand grains and fluid inclusions; Ussher, with Devonian
stratigraphy; Gwyn-Jeffreys, with shells; and Teall, with
granites. Sometimes helping with counsel; at others, with
specimens, or with literature ; but all indispensable.

The investigation of the Dartmoor granite has been even
more generally obstructed than that of the schists, as all
Devonshire workers have been treated with much contempt.

The granite problem has, from the first meeting of the
Society, engaged the special attention of the geologists of the
Devon Association. Yet, in 1893, a member of the Council
of the Geological Society attempts to tackle this advanced
problem in an elementary and facetious paper, entitled " Notes
on Dartmoor " ! Eeferring to the granite sending off "intrusive
veins from the main mass into the rocks adjoining it," this
writer gravely remarks, " this point is not so easily decided
as might have been expected "! Had this inquirer turned to
Mr. Pengelly's first paper on the subject, he would have
found references to records of the existence of intrusive
veins, by De La Beche, Sedgwick, Murchison, Godwin- Austen,
and Ormerod.6 Had he inquired of any Devonshire geologist,
he could have had special localities in abundance. This
paper was an attack by a geologist not conversant with the
elementary facts of the problem, on another, Mr. Ussher,
thoroughly up in its details and difficulties. The discussion,
as published, would have been laughable if not vexatious ;

8 Trans. Dev. Assoc, i. 49. (1862.)

m SOUTH DEVON. 257

the non-Survey men attacking Mr. Ussher, and his colleagues
rallying to his defence. However, not a soul present seemed
fully to grasp Mr. Ussher's points. Professor Bonney could
not resist a back-hander at absent Fellows of the Society, e.g.,
" Was there any evidence that a rock could be fused by
pressure alone, any more than by a gentle stewing in sea-
water, which also had been suggested?"7 This was aimed
at Mr. Ussher and myself, and was as misleading as it was
irrelevant Fusion by pressure alone, and by gentle stewing,
were but phantoms of the Professor's brain.

In 1894 the same author pursued his researches on the
rocks of igneous origin on the western flank of Dartmoor.
This is the territory of Mr. R. N. Worth, F.G.S. ; who,
by the bye, is scarcely referred to. In the discussion the
author is congratulated on discovering augitic rocks on
the western side of Cocks Tor, hitherto "completely over-
looked/'8 and he thanks the Fellows for the sympathetic way
in which they had received his paper. On receiving the
Q. J. O. S.t with the above paper, feeling much surprised, I
referred to a work in every penologist's library, viz., TealTs
British Petrography. On turning to the Index of Localities,
I found "Cocks Tor," and, turning up the passage, read,
" Bocks allied to the above, but frequently containing more
or less original augite . . . occur at various points round the
granite masses of Devon and Cornwall. They have been
observed at Waspworthy, Brazen Tor, and Cocks Tor, near
Tavistock."

The above is an example of the rule recently laid down
for his own guidance by Professor Bonney in the following
passage : " Probably there is nothing original in the results,
but they are all the outcome of personal observation, for
I have always preferred questioning 'Nature' to reading
books. So, in order to economise time in searching for what
has been already said, and to save studding the page with
references, I will assure the reader that he is quite at liberty
to suppose that 'everything has been said by somebody
some where.' "9

For many years past there has been an increasing
tension between professor and amateur in scientific
research. In June, 1894, the Times, in an article referring
to the University Extension Movement, wrote as follows :
"From smatterers and dilettante amateurs there is no

7 Q. J. G. S. xlix. 397.

8 Ibid. 1. 366.

9 Gcol. Mag. 1894, p. 114.

258 PROFESSORIAL AND AM ATE OR RESEARCH

certain way of deliverance ; but the reports of the committee
of experts give us ground for believing that such enemies to
real progress are not very many, and that they will probably
diminish." In the same month Professor Max Miiller,
writing on Germany, shows us the other side of the question:
" For a philosopher who does not belong to the professorial
caste to gain a hearing is extremely difficult. The best
critical papers are in the hands of the professors and of their
young pupils, or assistants. They notice the books of their
friends, or of their rivals, either in a kindly or an unkindly
spirit, but the outsider does not exist . . . That is what made
Schopenhauer so furious, and so ill-mannered in his assaults
on the whole professorial crew."1

The steady resistance to amateur work by professors, either
by active obstruction or the passive boycott, has for long
been an insoluble problem.

Max Miiller's terms, "Professorial Caste," and "Professorial
Crew," seem suggestive of a clue. But, if so, the future
of British research is clearly endangered ; as the time seems
rapidly approaching when the posts of influence, as well
as " the best critical papers," will all be " in the hands of the
professors and their young pupils, or assistants." Following
out this suggestion, I made a rough analysis of the Royal
Society as it was in 1892; with the following startling
result. Of professors, lecturers, and readers, there were not
less than 162 ; of medical men, not professors, fifty (medical
men, inclusive of professors, ninety-eight) ; military men
twenty-four, naval nine. Thus out of a total membership
of 458, one in 2*8 was a professor, lecturer, or reader ; i.e .,
a teacher — one in 4*7 was a medico, whereas one in 1*9
was a teacher, medico, soldier, or sailor. It would be
difficult to select four more self-assertive professions, or
more resentful of opposition. Under these circumstances
a want of sympathy between such a body of teachers and
rulers, and disrespectful independent amateurs, is quite
intelligible. It is, moreover, hard to combine teaching with
research without detriment to the latter. An amateur is
always interested to be proved wrong, a professor never.
Hence an amateur will assist his critic, whereas a professor
will continue his resistance after he has no longer a leg
to stand upon.

Since writing the foregoing passage the list of selected
candidates for the Eoyal Society for 1895 has appeared ; out
of fifteen names, no less than six have the prefix of " Pro-

1 Nineteenth Cen. Mag, June, 1894, p. 943.

IN SOUTH DEVON. • 259

fessor." To adapt Max Miiller's words, we can almost foresee
the time when our great British Society will be entirely in
the hands of the professors ; with remainder to their young
pupils or assistants. Many years ago, a Fellow of the Eoyal
College of Physicians informed me that no professional
work would make a doctor eligible for the Eoyal Society ;
it is, therefore, much to the credit of this distinguished
profession that its members can secure more than twenty per
cent, of the coveted fellowship by miscellaneous research,
more especially when considered in connection with the
fact that one has to look outside the Society for so many
specialists and pioneers, on the borderland of the natural
sciences.

Perhaps no such deadly blow has ever been levelled at the
credit of geology, as has been struck by the imaginative
school of petrologists, and there can be no question that the
general distrust of the science among thoughtful men has
greatly increased of late — and justly so; for although, by
virtue of stratigraphy and palaeontology, geology may still
claim to be one of the inductive sciences, the mental flights
of some of the leaders of the microscopical school have
raised it to a high level among the masterpieces of poetry
and fiction, both as to methods and results.2

9 In this connection the analysis of the qualifications of the fifteen
candidates selected by the Council of the Royal Society, in 1895, is in-
teresting. Judging by their papers, the fifteen authors would be distributed
among the sections of the British Association as follows : (When an author
would read in two sections he is credited with J for each.)

Sec. A. Physics . . . . 6J

„ B. Chemistry . . . . .3

„ C. Geology . . . . .0

,, D. Biology (including Section I.) . . 5

„ G. Practical Mechanics. . . . 1J

,, H. Anthropology . . . .0

The collapse of Sections C. and H. is not surprising, as, at a Conference at
Oxford, one speaker practically exhausted the vocabulary of doubt and
conjecture in twelve minutes, and the only point proved was that the two
sections thought much but knew nothing.

Two R.S. candidates declare themselves "attached to science'1 ! Would
that all the Fellows could say the same. There would be more sympathy
and less obstruction for provincial students.

As an instance of Speculation v. Science, the following extract from an
address, published by Nature (May 2nd, 1895, p. 21), as authoritative
doctrine would be hard to beat :

"There was not only great disruption of strata, but igneous rocks forced
themselves into the fissures in the sedimentary beds, and the resulting meta-
morphism of the adjacent rocks increased the confusion, as beds of slate may
be traced through the transformation of their sedimentary character, by
the re-crystallisation of their component elements into diorites having the

260 PROFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH

From a considerable experience of the work of country
societies, I am in a position to assert that there is no
necessary rivalry whatever between working amateurs and
professors, and that it is much to be regretted that any such
rivalry should be set on foot Amateurs assist each other
as comrades working in the same cause ; and as often as not,
ignore the professorial dicta with the utmost innocence. If,
however, the professors are anxious to stir up a provincial
hornet's nest, as seems to be the case, the hornets will
undoubtedly sting, and so long as there is a printing-press
in the land, not all the " best critical papers " in the world
can prevent this painful result accruing. Amateurs have
truly no cause to be ashamed of their status. It may be
remarked that, of the last twenty-one Presidents elected up
to date by the British Association, there have been no less
than fourteen unable to prefix "professor" to their names.
More than one of the most distinguished of these would be,
according to the Times, quite typical " dilettante amateurs,"
science being their recreation and not their business. After
all, though sadly tautological, what more distinguished title
in science can a man desire than that of a "dilettante
amateur," a lover of science who delights in it? and is it
not even more honourable to be a dilettante amateur than
merely " attached to science," a merit occasionally pleaded
by, or for, candidates for the Royal Society ?

In connection with the Amateur and Professor question,
one incident at the late meeting of the British Association
at Oxford, 1894 (not in Sect. C), was characteristic. A dis-
tinguished amateur, specially mentioned by the great Darwin
in the Origin of Species as having caused hint* to reconsider
an opinion, and one of our own past Presidents, read a paper.
This was criticised by a Professor in a tone of ineffable con-
descension and superiority. Beferring to the publication
of researches in miscellaneous reports, the said Professor
thought it perhaps best as it was, adding, superciliously,
"one need not read them"! Clearly for him, as pointed

peculiar structure of radiating crystals, which usually characterise rocks of
volcanic origin.'1

The article is a most interesting one to myself, as the author calls to his
aid the water of the ocean to account for metallic lodes; but to call a
metamorphosed slate a diorite ("The plutonic representative of the andesitic
magma.' Teall, Brit. Petr. 254), because crystalline, is equal to calling
the solar corona incandescent tallow, because both tallow and corona are
sources of light. The subsequent electric origin of gold, by currents acting
on gold dissolved in salt water, though most ingenious, and possibly true,
is strong meat when delivered as doctrine from a Presidential chair, and
endorsed by Nature.

IN SOUTH DEVON. 261

out by Max Miiller, "the outsider does not exist." Yet in
connection with such men, the outsider is apt to remember
the following lines of Cowper :

" Knowledge and wisdom, far from being one,
Have oft-times no connexion. Knowledge dwells
In heads replete with thoughts of other men,
Wisdom in minds attentive to their own.

Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much,
Wisdom is humble that he knows no more."

The following lines, too, are not without their lesson :

" Some to the fascination of a name
Surrender judgment hoodwinked. Some the style
Infatuates, and through labyrinths and wilds
Of error, leads them by a tune entranced.'1

It must be borne in mind that the persistent attacks on
amateurs by Professor Bonney are of no ordinary character,
as the assailant is no ordinary man. The Professor is not
only persona gratissima at the Geological Society,8 but he
accepts the position accorded him of being the most promi-
nent— nay, the representative petrologist of Great Britain.
A Fellow of Saint John's College, Cambridge, and Professor of
Geology in University College, London, he has also been the
recipient of several doctor's degrees. He is likewise a Fellow
of the Royal Society, and is rarely off the Council of the
Geological, of which Society he has been* President, and by
which he has been honoured with the Wollaston Medal, in
the company of such men as De La Beche, Darwin, Sorby,
and Huxley.

All his virulent attacks on members of the Council of the
Devonshire Association have emanated from him when an
officer or member of the Council of the Geological Society,
and apparently with the approval of that body, as he has
been re-elected over and over again. Not only has this very
representative man been actively hostile to the rank and file
of our workers, but he has also treated the works of our
distinguished founder, the late Mr. Pengelly, with culpable
carelessness.

All old members of the Association will remember how
often Mr. Pengelly referred to the Budleigh Salterton pebble-
bed, it being also one of the Devon problems he commended
to younger workers in his Presidential Address.

* During the eighteen years, 1878-1895, Professor Bonney has been six
years secretary, two years President, and five years Vice-President of the
Geological Society. Thirteen years in office.

262 PROFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH

In a recent paper on this subject Professor Bonney,6 in a
foot-note, states that Mr. Pengelly,4 considered the fossili-
ferous quartzites to be "practically identical with those of
Gorran Haven." However, according to Mr. Pengelly's
letter quoted, it was Mr. Etheridge who stated "that the
Budleigh Salterton pebbles came from Gorran " : Mr.
Pengelly having been only able to detect several specimens
of but one of the Budleigh Salterton species of Brachiopoda,
in either the Penzance or Truro Museums; though he
observed, in siM, fossils of the same general fades in
quartzites identical in structure, and even in hue, with the
pebbles of South-Eastern Devonshire.4

Now let us see what Mr. Pengelly really did write of the
pebbles in the following year : — " It has been suggested that
their source may have been Normandy, or Brittany, or the
Dodman District in South Cornwall, in each of which very
similar rocks, with, at least, some identical fossils, are known
to be in siM. It has also been suggested, and perhaps with
greater probability, that their source was none of the foregoing
localities, but a reef lying between them, perhaps a portion
of a once-continuous barrier crossing the Channel, and con-
necting the whole. In short, by common consent, the pebbles
came from somewhere between south and west of the pebble-
bed." 6 (Italics mine.)

We thus see that Mr. Pengelly thought it more probable
that the pebbles did not come from Gorran Haven ! It may
be contended that Professor Bonney was unaware of the
existence of Mr. Pengelly's paper ; but it so happens that it
is the famous paper on the metamorphic rocks of South
Devon, to which Professor Bonney, in 1883, referred his
readers for the previous literature of that subject.

In writing of the pebble-bed, Professor Bonney says:
"The materials, then, seem not generally to represent the
rocks now exposed in Devon and Cornwall. I had expected
to find a large proportion of rocks from this region, as
in the case of the breccias, which are so fully exposed
further west."6 Was there ever so singular a remark?
Surely, if the pebbles came from Devon and Cornwall,
there would be no problem as to their origin. Devon
and Cornwall are not unknown to geographers, even
though Dartmoor seems to have been somewhat of a
terra incognita to the Geological Society, and known

4 Geol. Mag. 1878, p. 238.

5 Trans. Dev. Assoc. 1879, p. 2.

6 Ocol Mag. 1895, p. 79.

IN SOUTH DEVON. 263

only to the aboriginal geologists of the district. More-
over, what evidence is there of Cornish rocks in the
Devon breccias ? We certainly have the Devonshire schists
in the conglomerate in Bigbury Bay ; but these schists were
rather travelling towards Cornwall than in the contrary
direction. The origin of the crystalline rocks in the
Devon breccias is still a puzzle. The schorlaceous rocks
of the breccias which have come under my notice, though
bearing a family likeness to the Dartmoor rocks, are not
identical with any I have been fortunate enough to see :
though this, of course, is but negative evidence. If any
have been actually traced to a Cornish origin, it is a fact
which should be more generally known.

Inaccurate quotations, and important assertions made

without references to their authors, are the very bane of

painstaking students. Mr. Pengelly, as is well known,

insisted on quoting an author down to his very grammatical

slips, punctuation and all. In connection with this subject,

I may here remark that a passage by Mr. Pengelly himself,

on the Budleigh Salterton question, was quoted by that

distinguished naturalist, the late Dr. Davidson, in his Fossil

Brachiopoda, in a manner almost suggestive of quotation

from memory, two or three alterations distinctly affecting

the author's meaning.7 No one could gather Mr. Pengelly's

mind from either the versions of Dr. Davidson or Professor

Bonney. Moral, verify your quotations.

As Professor Bonney, without the slightest provocation,
has declared he could not waste time by discussing the
schist question with Mr. Somervail ; and has further quite
gratuitously declared that I should not succeed in drawing
him into controversy on the same question, life being short
(albeit, I have not the slightest desire to prevent the
Professor running away if he prefers to do so), I may
be permitted to point out the common tactics of our fugitive
antagonist

Professor Bonney's first paper in the Quarterly Journal, so
far as I can ascertain, was published in 1870, a few months
after I myself joined the Geological Society.

It was printed in short abstract, and only occupies about
three-quarters of a page of the Journal. Its subject was the
" Geology of the Lofoten Islands." When a writer is limited
to so short a paper, it is usual to economise almost every
word. The Professor, however, commences with a descrip-
tion of the scenery of the islands as viewed from the

7 Monograph, British Fossil Brachiopoda, ?oL iv.

264 PROFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH

steamer, and then goes on to notice "bedding" in several
crystalline rocks, viz., in "a rock resembling syenite, and
in a quartzite containing a little hornblende and felspar " ;
and again in another "granitoid rock, resembling syenite."
"The author concluded, from his observations, that, with
few exceptions, the so-called granites of the Lofoten Islands
are stratified, highly metamorphosed rocks — quartzites and
gneiss, generally with much felspar in the latter, and
with more or less hornblende in both.8 . . ." The only felspar
named was " pink orthoclase."

Now, perhaps, there is no more important paper in
the Quarterly Journal, if the conclusions arrived at can
be verified ; as the contention is that syenite and gneiss,
with orthoclase and hornblende, may be metamorphosed
stratified rocks, which have not lost their original
bedding; instead of being, as sometimes thought, altered
crystalline rocks with a deceptive bedding-structure super-
induced by pressure. I offer no opinion, but allow the
Professor to provide his own commentary.

Eight years later, in describing the Charnwood Forest
syenites, and defending their igneous origin, the Professor
states that one of the arguments against that hypothesis was
" an appearance of bedded structure." To which he replies,
"the 'bedded structure* is only that tendency to parallel
jointing which is not rare in large masses of igneous
rock." 9

In 1894, in "Some Notes on Gneiss," the Professor asks:
" But was the old notion entirely wrong ? Cannot a gneiss
be, in any case, an altered sedimentary rock V'1

It will be observed that Professor Bonney has been
wandering in absolute darkness. In 1870, he assumes that
even syenite may be a metamorphosed bedded rock; in
1878, he points out the error of confounding the jointing
of crystalline rocks with bedding; in 1894, he inquires
whether gneiss might not, in any case, be an altered sedi-
mentary rock. He goes on to say, " There seems, however,
no reason why a sediment of the proper chemical composi-
tion should not, as a result of metamorphic processes, be
changed into a gneiss. But, as a rule, clays (for to some
variety of this rock we must look) are rather deficient in

8 Quarterly Journal Oeol. Soc. xxvii. 623.

9 Q.J.G.S. xxxiv. 212. This may be the case in the instance above
referred to, but on Dartmoor the " bedded structure" is distinct from the
parallel jointing.

1 Oeol. Mag. 1894, p. 120.

IN SOUTH DEVON. 265

alkalies, and seem to produce micas and minerals such as
andalusite more readily than felspar."2 (Italics mine.)

Now, if we must look to clay as the parent rock — and clay
is commonly the result of the decomposition of potash
felspar — the lack of magnesia and lime would render the
production of hornblende and of syenite a physical im-
possibility in most cases. The limitation of gneisses to
clays seems most unnecessary, as stratified volcanic ash, or
ash mingled with aluminous and siliceous sediment, would
supply a stratified deposit capable, so far as material goes,
of being transformed into gneisses, syenites, granites, or
almost any other crystalline rock, leaving the more ordinary
clays to account for the more ordinary schists.8

It appears to have been this disregard of the meta-
morphosis of volcanic rocks which has led Professor Bonney
so far astray, both at the Lizard and the Prawle ; whereas it
was by the recognition of this very fact, in discerning the
relation of the "chlorite schists" to the Devonian green-
stones, that Mr. Somervail did such a lasting service to
Devonshire science. 1

How far Professor Bonney went astray can be shown by
his own papers. In his paper on the Lizard, in 1877, he
describes the " granulite " and hornblende schist as follows :
"Careful examination, however, shows that we have here,
highly-metamorphosed and entangled in the serpentine,
another mass of sedimentary rock, which has once con-
sisted of lenticular bands of a more sandy character, in a
mod whose mineral composition somewhat resembled that of
hornblende. The first stage has been the conversion of the
former into a kind of granulite, the latter, probably, into a
hornblende schist"4 In the concluding paragraph, the
author says, "The sedimentary rocks of the Lizard are
probably about Lower Devonian age." 6

So far as the hornblende schist was concerned, the above
was an attempted correction with the microscope of Sedg-
wick's view, that the hornblende schist, or part of it, called
by him a greenstone, was of igneous origin. However, we
see that, in 1877, Prof. Bonney pronounced these schists
sedimentary, and probably Lower Devonian. In 1883, the

1 Geol. Mag. 1894, p. 120.

* The composition of the Eddystone gneiss, and of its felspathic veins, is
precisely sucn as might be expected to result from metamorphisin of the
schists and felspathic veins in the neighbourhood of the Bolt Head, the
original sediment being, at least to some extent, of volcanic origin.

<0. /. <?. S. xxxiii. 902.

• hoc. cit. 924.

vol. xxyii. T

266 PROFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH

Professor again returned to the subject with an entire change
of front Of the hornblende schist he now writes : — " The
result of the above examination of the hornblende schist
shows that it can no longer be regarded as a metamorphic
representative of the Lower Devonian (or even Silurian)
strata, but that it almost certainly belongs to some part
of the Archaean."0 The sedimentary character of the horn-
blendic rocks is, however, still retained, e.g. "I . . . am
disposed to regard the group as, at any rate in the main, of
sedimentary origin."7 Most surprising of all, the Professor
discovered u a record of true • current-bedding ' " in the horn-
blendic rocks, and of " indications of current-bedding *' in
the granulitic rocks ! These, or some of them, are figured
on PL 1, vol. xxxix. of the Quarterly Journal of the Geological
Society of London.

In 1891 Professor Bonney wrote a third time on the same
rocks. The sedimentary granulitic rocks with their current
bedding were now found to be volcanic rocks, the phenomena
of banding being explained as follows : —

" These conditions appear to be best fulfilled by the following
hypothesis : That into a basic magma, which at any rate was
sufficiently solid to break into fragments, an acid magma, at a very
high temperature, was injected, — that either the more basic
material was still somewhat plastic when this intrusion took place,
or it was, by this accession of heated stuff, so far softened, that it
was drawn out into streaks, and was even sometimes slightly
mixed with the other by actual fusion, when movements occurred
in the mass ; and that afterwards, as the temperature gradually
fell, the whole mass became crystalline. Thus, the banded
gneissoid rock of the Granulitic Group is an example of a kind of
flow-structure on a large scale, wholly, or (more probably) in part,
antecedent to crystallisation." s

Our quondam sedimentary current-bedded rock has now
become an example of an igneous rock formed " at a very
high temperature " !

Of the Hornblendic Group, which in 1S33 furnished a
record of " true current-bedding," the Professor writes : —

41 Thus, although our reasons cannot be fully appreciated by
those who have not followed our steps, we are at present unable to
suggest any form of mechanical disturbance as a complete explana-
tion of the more banded members of the Hornblendic Group, and
think that for these the stratification of an ash (perhaps by the
intervention of water) is the better working hypothesis."

• Q. G. J. S. xxxix. 23.
T Z*v. cit. 19.

* Q.J.G.S. xlviL 477.

IN SOUTH DEVOK. 267

But later on : —

" We now feel convinced that some members of the group were
originally dolerites,9 and some structures are due to fluxion."1

It may be observed that certain unexplained structures in

these rocks are thus attributed partly to fluxion, and partly to

currents. It would be difficult to conceive the conditions

tinder which similar structure could be produced in the same

rock by such opposite agencies. Not having studied the

lizard rocks, I simply ' watch the struggle as an amused

spectator ; but, judging from an also unexplained incipient

banded structure in the Devon schists, I anticipate that

geologists will agree before long that the current-bedding

hypothesis is out of the question, and the fluxion hypothesis

equally so.

At the time geologists first discovered current-bedding in
hornblende rocks, I had been working at the subject of
ripple-mark and current-bedding myself, and my first
thought was to test the theory by experiment with volcanic
ash. On second thoughts, however, the suggestion seemed
so highly improbable, that it seemed best to let it die a
natural death. One of the fundamental difficulties is this : —
Current-bedding differs from sedimentation in being due to
transport of material over a river-, or sea-, or lake-bottom.
This transport is practically confined to sands, clay and mud
being conveyed in suspension, and accumulated by sedimen-
tation. Kipple-mark and current-mark must, therefore, not
be looked for, either in recent muds or in ancient slates. It
is an open question whether current-mark, as seen in sands
and sandstones, could be produced in volcanic ash. It could,
no doubt, be produced in a mixture of ash and sand, but
there is no evidence that it could be produced in a pure
volcanic deposit. But on the assumption that such were
possible, it would be difficult to conceive any conditions of
river, lake, or sea, subject to currents, which would not bring
about an admixture of quartz-sand with the volcanic ejecta-
menta. If so, it is almost certain that any metamorphic
processes insufficient to obliterate the current structure
would also fail to obliterate traces of the original siliceous
sand, easily recognised in the microscope.

In one of the cases figured by Professor Bonney, we are
told expressly that the materials "appear to be mostly

9 The point here at issue is whether the petrologies! microscope in Prof.
Bonney's hands can distinguish an altered dolerite from a metamorphosed
"mud whose mineral composition somewhat resembled that of hornblende. "
See ante, p. 265. 1 Loc. tit. 480.

t 2

268 PROFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH

rather rounded grains of felspar/'2 the other constituents
being quartz, hornblende, and mica, a closely-twined plagio-
clase being very abundant. It is difficult to see whence
currents could collect such materials, but if once collected,
the latter would soon be distributed apart, according to
weight and form. However, this case is in the granulite,
which Professor Bonney now, or at least in 1891, decided to
be igneous, and to show flow structure.

The Lizard question does not particularly concern
Devonshire geologists ; but the problem of the hornblendic
metamorphics is common to both the Lizard and the Prawle,
and demands the closest attention.

When Professor Bonney denies the right of Devonshire
men to investigate the geology of their own county, it is
impossible to avoid scrutinizing closely his own claim to
monopolize their great geological puzzle — the Devon schists,
one of whose chief difficulties lies with the hornblendic
green rocks. Now, with respect to hornblendic schists in
general, the foregoing pages have shown how often Professor
Bonney has changed his mind on quite fundamental points,
from Lofoten to the Lizard. Although the Professor has
practically staked his reputation (quite needlessly) on the
Archaean age of the Devon schists, the Director-General of
the Geological Survey now describes them under the heading
" Devonian/' and the petrographer to the Survey mentions
that previous descriptions of the green rocks have been very
imperfect.8 Thus, to say the least of it, competent
geologists now maintain the possibility of the schists being
Devonian; and the question is, therefore, one clearly open
to further research and discussion. Professorial obstruction
of research is not a danger to be safely disregarded, because,
although, as has been seen in the case of the Devonshire
Association itself, local amateur work can be very easily
quenched, such work has then to remain undone, as no one
but the local amateur (except, of course, the Geological
Surveyor) has either the opportunity or leisure to do it It
is quite preposterous to suppose that London gentlemen,
however able, can, in their flying holiday-visits, dispose
authoritatively of problems which have perplexed men of
at least equal ability, who have given them attention for
years. We may safely take it for granted that where Mr.
Pengelly and Mr. Tawney have doubted, certainty is not
within easy reach ; or, that where Mr. Pengelly has kept his

1 Q. J. G. S. xxxix. 17.
3 Hature, xlix. 497.

IN SOUTH DEVON. 269

eye and pen on a notorious problem for his whole working
life, it is not safe to pay the locus in quo a hasty visit under
the assumption that the problem is non-existent, the
mere creature of provincial imagination. It appears to be
almost an unwritten law among scientists (I use this word,
as Mr. Fengelly commonly did, as distinguishing science
from philosophy; the same great distinction as between
"talent" and u genius"), either to ignore the work of
an opponent, who is not a personal friend; or, to attack
the man himself tooth and nail.

Trained as I had been at the meetings of the Torquay
Natural History Society, I was fairly taken aback by &
retort of Sir Andrew Ramsay at one of the first meetings
of the Geological Society which I attended. He was vexed
by some remark made on a paper, and, in replying, he fairly
hissed out, "I thought I was addressing the Geological
Society of London, and not an elementary school ! " Can we
conceive such a remark made by a member of the Council
from the platform of the Devonshire Association? I
registered a vow there and then never to venture a remark
before the Geological Society, a vow which has been kept.
Sir Andrew's victim was no doubt a prominent geologist, or he
would scarcely have been speaking at the Geological Society,
and such a thrust would do him no harm; but very few
amateurs care to face such stabs, and speedily turn to more
congenial occupations ; if, however, they do not do so, there
is the greatest risk that their main object will quite in-
sensibly change its character. The desire to defeat the
adversary will take the place of the honest search for truth ;
and then nothing but disaster can befall the scientific
pugilist.

As my own investigations have been solely due to the
Devonshire Association, and my experiences are doubtless
the common lot of the amateur, a brief sketch may, perhaps,
interest a Society, which, by its early encouragement, is
the true author of all my papers. Without the Devonshire
Association, not a line would have been written.

In every case my subjects have sought me; not I my
subjects. And in nearly every case, I have been able to
bring that happy ignorance to my tasks, which precludes the
possibility of prejudice and preconception. Owing to lack of
memory, history has always been a very weak point, and of
numismatics I know nothing. But my first paper was on
History and Numismatics.4 It, I believe, led to an invitation

4 Trans. Dev. Assoc, vi. 197.

270 PROFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH

to become (if I forget not) an original member of the
Historical Society, which invitation I at first was inclined to
regard as a hoax ; and it also elicited the warm commenda-
tion of a gentleman who had been in the Coin-room, at the
British Museum. This I took for chaff ; and I had to ask,
" Do you really think it a good paper ? " This approval was
encouraging, and no doubt, had not I done what I could to
record and analyse the evidence of the Blackpool coins, that
interesting' find would have been lost entirely to science.
That paper was the first original paper, as distinguished from
an essay, which I ever wrote. Read at the Torquay Society,
Mr. Pengelly persuaded me to send it to the Devonshire
Association, where it had to go unattended by its author, as
the bare idea of standing on a platform and reading a paper
was sufficient

My next subject was equally uncongenial. Of conchology
I knew nothing, and cared nothing. But circumstances led
to my preserving a large aplysia, or sea hare, with the
intention of describing it to the Torquay Natural History
Society from Forbes and Hanley, and Gwyn-Jeffreys.
Doctors differed : so I worked up the subject for several
years, set the malacologists and conchologists by the ears :
the latter asserting that the large sea-hares were A. depilans,
the former agreeing with me that they were over-grown
A. punctata. The result being that, thanks to Mr. Gwyn-
Jeffreys' candour in acknowledging that he had described
A. depilans from a badly preserved specimen, I believe I
have turned A. depilans out of the British fauna. However,
my amateur work was taken up subsequently by my friend
Mr. A. Garstang, and the problem cannot well be in better
hands, whatever be the final conclusion.

Dredging in Torbay, suggested "Notes on Torbay," dis-
cussing both the fauna, and the action of waves on the
bottom. This paper dealt with a difficult subject for a non-
mathematician, and to guard against blunders in this line
Lord Rayleigh most kindly looked through the manuscript for
me. The subject was now followed up by experiments in a
special tank, and a paper on " Kipple-mark " was submitted
to the Royal Society, which touched also on the influence of
waves on the marine fauna. This latter problem was, I
believe, novel, and certainly important, and a paper was pre-
pared for the Linnean Society. On submitting this paper to
Mr. Gwynn-Jeffreys, F.R.S., a past-president of the Linnean,
he advised my trying to get it communicated to the Royal
Society, and left it at that Society's rooms to await my

IN SOUTH DEVON. 271

decision. Now the Royal Society had not appreciated my
former paper, and I did not know of a soul in it who would
care to hear more of waves and fauna from an outsider. The
paper was written for the Linnean, but the question was how
to get it there. As the paper was already at the Royal, I
determined, in my dilemma, to refer the question to a scientist,
and more than a scientist, who had, I believe, been President
of both Linnean and Royal, and whose praises I had heard
sung for his kindness to a relative of my own. Five minutes
would have sufficed to decide whether this short paper, the
result of years of thought, was suited to .the Linnean, and
none could tell me better than my referee. It is, I believe,
the only case in which I have been refused scientific assist-
ance, so I quote the reply in extenso.5

"May 9th, 1884.

" Sir, — I regret that it is impossible for me to undertake to read
papers, with a view to deciding whether they are fit for presentation
to a Society. (( j

" Your obedient Servant,

"X."

Needless to say, my correspondent was a professor. Not
«m amateur in the kingdom would have, under the circum-
stances, adopted such a tone to a fellow-student. The letter
Is interesting both for style and signature. It proved the
"best answer to my enquiry, and confirmed my reluctance to
submit the paper to the Royal Society. Mr. Gwyn-Jeffreys
kindly resumed charge of it, and communicated it to the
linnean.

The Linnean paper was practically the outcome of my
Devon Association paper, "Notes on Torbay," and it may
possibly interest some of our members to know how it fared.
I had shirked attending the Royal Society when Ripple-mark
was submitted, and would have done the same by the
Linnean, had not Mr. Pengelly insisted that my absence
would show disrespect to the Society. Shortly after my
arrival in town, I picked up a Standard in the hotel reading-
room, and was somewhat staggered to find my humble paper
advertised as one of the events of the following evening, in
the notices of meetings. The following afternoon a telegram

5 Since the above was written, science has had to deplore the loss of the
distinguished author of the letter in question, Professor Huxley. The letter
is quite explicable on the assumption that it was written not by Huxley the
great naturalist, but by Huxley the controversialist, who in his later years
aevoted so much of his valuable time to the attempt to enforce the sub-
mission of reluctant ecclesiastics to his own opinions.

272 PROFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH

came to hand with an invitation to dine at the Linnean
Club. After dinner, Mr. Gwyn- Jeffreys drove me to
Burlington House. On the way, I sounded him as to the
apparent links between Trochus zizyphinus and T. granu-
latvs, a really very perplexing question. The great
conchologist was a stickler for the immutability of species,
and he decided the point by saying, "Oh, but after all, a
species is a species " ! From the moment my fate was sealed
that I must accompany my paper, I had been on the stretch,
in what Devonians would call "a proper flitter," and the
crisis was reached when, after preliminary business had been
transacted, the Vice-President, in the chair, requested me, in
the suavest of tones, to expound my paper to the meeting ;
a crowded meeting, too. This was beyond my powers, and I
read it through from beginning to end. After the meeting,
Mr. Gwyn-Jeffreys was good enough to ask me to join the
Society, and when I had proved to him my entire unfitness
for the fellowship, he summoned a botanist, whose name was
a household word : him I thought to discomfit by exclaim-
ing, "I know no botany, and no systematic zoology." He
calmly replied, "We have plenty of systematic zoology
here." Then Mr. Gwyn-Jeffreys said, " If your objection is
financial I will say no more." This was conclusive, and I
left the matter in the hands of these genial naturalists. I
believe they were wrong ; any young professor would pluck
me on the elements of zoology, and on botany I could not
answer a question ; but the cheer and support which those
kind words of welcome afforded, are beyond my powers to
express.

The only possible explanation that occurs to me why the
Linnean Society should have been so sympathetic, whereas
the Boyal and Geological have been so much the other way,
is that the first-named was much less under professorial rule.

As the Linnean paper was highly condensed, and dry to a
degree, I continued my work in the form of a lecture to the
Torquay Natural History Society. Having taken in Nature
from the first number, and that periodical being addicted to
publishing lectures in extenso or abstract, enquiry was made
whether the editor would entertain the idea of giving
publicity to my " Waves and Fauna." The proposal was very
civilly declined, without any request even to see the manu-
script. Knowing of no other means of effectual publication,
I had no option but to drop the research, which was
accordingly done. However, the subject can afford to wait,
though no evolutionist can afford to ignore it, and in the

IN SOUTH DEVON. 273

meantime my thanks are due, more especially, to Lord
Rayleigh, Sir G. G. Stokes, the Eev. A. Cooke, and to the
Brixham fisherman, Mr. George Hayden, who all, in one
way or another, materially assisted me in my enquiry.

A problem intimately connected with waves and shoals is
the origin of rounded sand-grains. It is no easy matter
to distinguish sands rounded by wind, sands rounded by
waves, and sands derived from quartz rounded in the
parent matrix, yet it is most important that geologists
should not confound these varieties. Now, in 1886, I sent
in a paper to the British Association at Birmingham on
" Denudation and deposition experimentally considered " ;
a subject of much importance to geologists, and one in which
serious blunders have been made as to the action and point
of attack of plunging waves. In this paper I demonstrated
the lines of plunge on different slopes, and proved by experi-
ment the persistence of the wave depression to the very last.
Unfortunately, my constant antagonist, Professor Bonney,
was Sectional President, and in his address promulgated the
heresy that rounded sand-grains almost necessarily indicated
seolian action, i.e. the action of wind. My own paper
was treated with the utmost disrespect, my name being
even omitted from the Sectional Committee; an unusual
slight to an old member, and an almost unheard-of one to an
old member communicating a paper. Thus I was unable to
obtain any tidings of my paper, and it was only by almost
unseemly importunity that it was given a grudging place, last
but one, on the last day in the sub-section of Section C.
Now, it must not be assumed this was such a very bad
paper. It was subsequently privately printed, and dedicated
by special permission to Lord Rayleigh. Professor Bonney's
dictum from the chair, that rounded sand-grains implied
wind action, seemed calculated to lead to much confusion, so
I proposed a short paper on the rounding of sand-grains
to the Geological Society, addressing my letter officially
to the Secretaries. It never reached them, and ultimately,
both the President and Assistant-Secretary deemed the
paper, or possibly the subject, scarcely suitable for the
Society.6 The Society probably still believes that waves
cannot round sand-grains, because sands on beaches are
mostly crushed and angular. It may be observed that
not only were my experiments and observations fortified by
the mathematical conclusions of such physicists as Bayleigh

6 My letters to the Geological Society appear as an appendix. The
situation was not devoid of a certain spice oi humour.

274 PROFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH

and Stokes, but I was in correspondence with the only
geologist whose opinion I desired, viz., Dr. Sorby. The
paper was re-written for the Devonshire Association, and as
I would not wittingly, without the greatest care, publish
anything in conflict with Dr. Sorby (as, in any question
at issue, the presumption would be in favour of so accurate
an observer), I submitted one apparent difficulty to him,
but only to receive the explanation that our observa-
tions were not inconsistent.

It was obvious that it was useless bringing questions of
physical geology either before the British Association or the
Geological Society. In the meantime a singular coinci-
dence had occurred. A note on a curious tank-experiment
connected with the position of lighthouses on reefs had been
suppressed by a prominent weekly. Profoundly disgusted
with Section C. I sought at Manchester the practical atmo-
sphere of the engineers, and was vastly interested by Pro-
fessor Osborne Reynolds' paper on " Experiments on a small
scale" (Estuaries), and Sir James Douglass1 comments
thereon. In a few days I found myself the only engineering
layman, on one of the most important committees of the
year : with the great authority on lighthouses as chairman,
and Professor Osborne Reynolds as secretary. It was
eminently one of those committees which should consist
of two members with one absent. The work was subse-
quently magnificently done by the secretary, who proved to
demonstration the trustworthiness of what may be termed
model tides and currents. As the committee was not
convened the first year, there was no small commotion
at Bath, in 1888, as to what had become of it; and it fell to
my lot to appear before the engineers in their section-room,
and plead for its re-appointment — perhaps, the best day's
work that can be laid to my credit.

In 1889, some unexpected observations on the Dartmoor
granite suggested a new theory, viz., that although many of
the granitic phenomena were post-Carboniferous, the rock
was a partially re-dissolved granite of much greater age.
This problem was submitted to the Devon Association, and
an abstract sent to the British. It occurred to me that the
paper might fare better without its author. And so it did,
the entire abstract being printed in the Times.

The following winter was devoted to the study of the fluid
inclusions in the Dartmoor granites and veins ; a very
attractive problem, and, probably, the key to the whole
question. This problem could be expounded in twelve

IN SOUTH DEVON. 275

minutes, and a paper of that length was prepared for
reading at Leeds. There was no press for time, and the
Secretary said I might have my twelve minutes. The
Sectional Chairman, however, suppressed me at ten — and
a paper without its conclusion is usually a lame affair. In
opening the discussion, the Chairman acknowledged his
ignorance of the subject ; yet his parting shot, as I left the
platform, was in effect a taunt that I could not defend my
position. Such a rebuke from the chair is damning, and the
reporters naturally omitted even the title of my paper — a
better than the one which the year before had been published
at length. The fact was, my paper was made a hook on
which to hang Vesuvius ; and, as granitic questions are often
far enough removed from volcanic ones, I was not equal to
the occasion. I knew my own subject, but not every other.

To my contention that the Dartmoor chlorides are chiefly
of sodium, it was suggested they might be of potash, because
Vesuvius emits chloride of potash. My answer, no doubt,
should have been that the point was immaterial, that the
chlorine was the important element in the case, but that
sodium had been recorded in granitic chlorides by Sorby.7
However, it is very easy to trip a man up on side issues. It
is quite conceivable that the chlorine might be dissociated
from its sodium, or potassium, and then re-combined at a
lower temperature ; but this hypothesis goes out of the way
to seek needless difficulties. It is far simpler to accept — at
any rate as a working hypothesis — the direct derivation of
the sodium chloride from the sea-water at a temperature high
enough for quartz-forming, but not for dissociation of the
elements of the chlorides.

As the Dartmoor research seemed only calculated to excite
hostile opposition, that also was dropped.

No further paper would have been submitted to the British
Association, had not detrital tourmaline been detected in the
metamorphic rocks of the Start, a discovery calculated to
throw fresh light on a point where it was sadly needed.
A short paper on the subject was read at Cardiff, a
penological one, which unfortunately was taken with a
stratigraphical one by Mr. Ussher, thus greatly compli-
cating the discussions on the two. In the end the
discussion was abruptly closed by the Chairman, though,
as it happened, one of the Secretaries had just given the
speaker a hint that it was rather an object to keep the

7 " Liquid inclusions containing cubic crystals of common salt occur in the
diorite of Quenast, Belgium." Tkall, Brit. Petrography , 26.

276 PROFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH

debate going; as the business of the morning had been
disposed of more rapidly than anticipated. However, it
seemed fated that every problem from the West of England,
however influentially supported privately, should be officially
repressed. In every case the private encouragement had
been remarkable, and not the least so at Cardiff, where just
before reading my paper, the Director - General of the
Geological Survey had in the committee-room openly re-
marked on my metamorphic specimens, that he thought
it quite possible they were Devonian. Since then he has
himself described the Devonshire schists under the heading
" Devonian."

It was impossible to be blind to the fact that all my three
problems, of denudation and deposition, the chloride inclu-
sions, and the detrital tourmaline, had been accorded a
reception by the British Association which had been posi-
tively rude — not privately, but officially. I determined for
the future to read no papers, and make no remarks. The
last resolution it was impossible to keep, as the next year,
at Edinburgh, I was present when Mr. Ussher read a paper
on Dartmoor, and it might seem unfriendly on my part to let
it pass in silence. Professor Bonney was, unfortunately, the
Vice-President in the chair. My remarks were limited to
one question and one observation. I merely asked if Mr.
Ussher had decided that the Devon schists were Lower
Devonian, they being so coloured on his map. This was,
of course, a most interesting point on which to elicit a public
utterance. My remark was simply that as Mr. Ussher in
his Dartmoor researches had not trodden on my toes, I need
say nothing more. Thus I asked a question for information,
and expressed a general concurrence with Mr. Ussher's con-
clusions. Extraordinary to say, this offended Professor
Bonney, who sought to chastise me forthwith from the
chair. And this is how he did it. Premising that he
knew my Dartmoor views because I had sent him a paper,
he went on to say that I rested my world on an elephant,
the elephant on a tortoise, and the tortoise on a few micro-
scopical crystals of chloride of sodium !8 It was obviously
irrelevant to drag all this in for the sole object of public
ridicule. This was the fourth unprovoked official attack
from the British Association, so with an emphatic protest
I left the hall. Not content with this, the Professor attacked
me. most impertinently in the Geological Magazine in the sub-

8 Such sarcasm may possibly suit an elementary class, but scarcely Sec. C.
It is, however, a warning not to send Professors reprints.

IN SOUTH DEVON. 277

sequent autumn and winter ; followed up by a thrust in the
back at the Geological Society, and finally by the Parthian-
dart shot in the columns of Nature already referred to. It
must not, however, be assumed that he was allowed to have
it entirely his own way.

The Edinburgh incident had its humorous side, as so
many such incidents have. The tragedy of the drama lay in
the fact that a paper honoured by the Devon Association
had been held up to the ridicule of the geologists of the
world. The comedy lay in the further fact that the two
worst blots in that paper must be laid to the door of its
critic, and that the paper itself was absolutely safe-guarded
against successful attack. To explain: owing to press of
time, I had been unable to check my facts and arguments to
my own satisfaction, but it was expedient not to delay publi-
cation. So to guard against the possibility of unwary
readers being led astray, I took the strong course of heading
my paper with the monitory motto, peculiarly applicable to
a treatise on salt, " Cum grano salts'* One might suppose
such humility would disarm venomous criticism, or, at any
rate, that it would be patent to any opponent that he was
openly invited to doubt as much as he pleased. Not so,
however; my antagonist, as almost invariably the case,
rushes headlong into the trap.

In the second paragraph of the paper in question, it was
plainly stated that I desired to see my problems and doubts
•' solved and settled by those competent for the task." How
much more seemly it would have been for the Chairman of the
Geological Section of the British Association to have thrown
some light on these problems, instead of going far out of his
way to attack a fellow-student. The two blots referred to were
the allowing weight to Professor Bonney's contention that
the Channel granites and Devonshire schists were Archsean ;
and the following Miss Eaisin, who followed Professor
Bonney in identifying one of the schist-minerals as kyanite.
All arguments of mine based on these premises must, of
course, collapse. Evidence at present certainly tends to the
conclusion that there are Archaean granites in the English
Channel (e.g., No. 19), but as the Devon schists are clearly
Devonian, and the Eddystone gneiss probably so, my agree-
ment with Professor Bonney to this extent is but a coinci-
dence. Although in science discussion is the soul of
progress, it must be a londfide friendly encounter, in which
each combatant tries to do his opponent the service of
winnowing the chaff from his grain. When the threshers

278 PROFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH

lay their flails along each other's backs instead of on the
corn, useless fighting takes the place of useful work.

There is, perhaps, nothing more inspiriting to a student
sure of his facts, than to be in a minority of one. Such has
been my privilege as to the following dozen moot points,
viz., (1) the formation of ripple-mark by wave-currents ; (2)
the rounding of sand-grains on shoals ; (3) the pre-Devonian
age of the Dartmoor granite ; (4) the marine origin of the
chloride inclusions in its quartzes ; (5) the mode of forma-
tion of adjacent brine and fresh- water inclusions; (6) the
Lower Devonian age of the Start quartz-schists; (7) the
Devonian age of the Eddystone gneiss ; (8) the influence of
wave-currents on the marine fauna ; (9) the identity of the
British Aplysia d^pUans with A. punctata ; (10) the in sitH
character of a certain granite south of the Eddystone ; (11)
Dartmoor tourmaline not directly derived from mica or
felspar ; (12) wave disturbance at forty fathoms, and over.
Whether correct or not, in each of these cases, so far as I
know, my views at one time or another have not been shared
by a single colleague, but neither have my positions been
shaken. Up to a certain point, opposition is of great value
to a student, but it may be carried too far. Of fair criticism
there can scarcely be too much. For instance, it is im-
possible to over-estimate the value of Mr. Pengeily's
" Notes and Notices," in which year by year he pointed out
inaccurate statements concerning Devonshire geology.9 It
is too much the custom among geologists to leave their
opponents severely alone, with the result that two recipro-
cally contemptuous students often blunder along their
solitary paths, instead of by mutual assistance making the
journey easier for both. When professorial trades unionism
enters into the question, active opposition takes the place
of indifference, and the cry is " 'Ere *s a stranger, let 's 'eave
'arf a brick at him!1' This does not facilitate the stranger's
upward climb. It impedes it

Indeed, careful co-operation is equally necessary between
colleagues, as was curiously exemplified in the case of a
paper published in our Transactions, " The Thatcher Raised

8 For years not a sentence of mine was published without a defence being
ready for well-nigh every dot and comma, in case of attack by my master
and trainer, Mr. Pengelly. One such attack was made, but I was more
frightened than hurt, and no single joint of the armour was pierced. Mr.
Pengelly's conduct was most chivalrous. He gave me timely notice of the
intended onslaught, and then, when I had hit him back as hard as I could,
he gave me further notice he intended to let the subject drop. Whereupon
I, of course, regretted having hit quite so hard.

See " Reply to a Recent Critique." Trans. Dev. Assoc, xv. 202.

IN SOUTH DEVON. 279

Beach, its Shells and their Teaching/1 This paper may be
said to owe its existence to my friend Mr. D. Pidgeon's
enthusiastic work in identifying the shell fragments which
I from time to time collected. Owing to the comminuted
condition of both shells and beach material, Mr. Pidgeon
used constantly to point out to me the abnormal character
of the beach ; and to express his scepticism that it was a
beach at all. For my own part, I should as soon question
the accuracy of the multiplication table because a problem
in arithmetic presented difficulties, as question the genuine-
ness of the Torbay raised beaches because some of their
phenomena were hard to explain. However, Mr. Pidgeon
read a paper to the Geological Society on the " So-called
* Raised Beaches/ " in which he denied they were beaches ;
and in the discussion another very good friend of mine denied
they were raised. This was questioning the raised beach
multiplication-table with a vengeance. Some time afterwards
Professor Prestwich read a paper to the Geological Society,
dealing with raised beaches, in which he mentioned my own
work with much kindness, but absolutely ignored the paper
aspersing the character of our classical old beaches.

I am confident that had Mr. Pidgeon visited the beaches,
instead of relying entirely on my material, their large base
stones, stratification, blown sand, and beach-platforms cut
out of the rock, would have satisfied him as to their
genuineness as true beaches; leaving still outstanding the
point he had so shrewdly detected, viz., the extraordinary
character of their angular debris and broken shells. I take
blame to myself not to have paid more attention to Mr.
Pidgeon's warnings as to these unusual characters, but, being
quite absorbed with " the shells and their teaching/1 I failed
to appreciate the significance of Mr. Pidgeon's observations.
At present the matter stands thus. It is an open question
with the Geological Society whether there are any raised
beaches in Devonshire. If such there be, Mr. Pidgeon's
facts have still to be accounted for.

Having mentioned Professor Prestwich's paper, I may
call attention to one point concerning the detached blocks of
stone trawled in the Channel Nothing can exceed the
graciousness of the Professor's references to my raised-beach
and Channel researches, researches which owe much to
his own kindness in sending me valuable old papers, by
Godwin - Austen, and others. But in giving me credit for
being with him in the belief that the Channel blocks are
erratics, he pays me a compliment entirely undeserved. I

280 PROFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH

have stoutly maintained throughout that the blocks, as a
whole, represent rocks which form the Channel floor, and
that a granite, No. 19, was actually torn off the parent rock
by the trawl-rope. There are a great many arguments
which might be adduced in favour of the foreign origin
of the blocks, and as many or more in favour of their being
in sitlX, when not disturbed and carried about by the
trawlers. To solve this question would require a good deal
of time, a good deal of money, and much petrological skill —
three strands not always found in the same rope.

The position of the amateur is but ill-understood by the
advocates of the endowment of research, and of professorial
science. The amateur scientific crew are much like the crew
of the cruiser Undaunted, for whom their captain, Lord
Charles Beresford, provided the bugle call, u Undaunted* be
ready, Undaunteds be steady, Undaunteds look out for a job."
Nothing could describe the amateur's position more precisely :
he must be undaunted, always ready, always steady, and on
the constant look out for a job. While the professorial
battleship has to keep station, to be in touch with the rest of
the fleet, and to be complete to the minutest detail, and her
captain a perfect strategist, liable by the chance of war to
succeed at any time to the chief command ; the cruiser may
be called upon at any moment to do anything, from engaging
an enemy at overpowering odds, to warning his own Admiral
he is running into danger. When a British captain has to
engage an enemy on land, or at sea, it is marvellous how
blind he is as to whether he can reasonably anticipate
success. And the metaphor can be carried still further ; for
it has happened that cruisers have occasionally been executing
their orders, while their Admirals have been engaged in
ramming each other to destruction. Certainly, "our Devon-
shire Geological cruisers, from our old Commodore, Mr.
Pengelly, downwards, have never paused a moment to
calculate odds ; and indeed, from the stirring times of Good
Queen Bess, and of the Spanish Armada, the Devon shipmen
have rarely failed to hang on to any unwieldy enemy who
has appeared in their waters, and to render an excellent
account of themselves. Truly, our comrade, Mr. Somervail,
deserves well of his adopted county for having alone, and
amid public derision, hung on to that cumbrous foe the
Archaean hypothesis, when it obtained a brief foothold on our
southern coasts, never relaxing his hold till other Devon
shallops dashed in to the rescue ; and then, after having drawn
the enemy's fire, and so called attention to the fray, our

IN SOUTH DEVON. 281

comrade, like many another before him, quietly retires,
almost unnoticed.

Perhaps, of all sciences in England, Geology is the most
singularly situated, studied as it is by three distinct sets of
students, viz., professors, professionals, and amateurs. Besides
the teaching staff of professors, we have Government officers
on the Survey and in the National Museum ; and these in
addition to amateurs. The chief distinction seems to rest
with the mere fact of teaching. Pupils must, to some
extent, be taught dogmatically, and it is hard for a teacher
to have to change front before his class. Between the dogma
of the professor and the working hypothesis of the geological
surveyor there can be nothing in common. In fact, until
the stage of the working hypothesis is long past, that of
dogma is scarcely in sight. The surveyor attacking an
appointed task, in order to marshal his facts and sort his
evidence, finds it convenient to work, so to Bpeak, by trial
and error. Assuming some probable hypothesis, he tests it
by every new discovery, until the hypothesis either breaks
down completely, or, gradually growing in strength, imper-
ceptibly becomes a theory. It is most important to
remember that the working hypothesis is often but the
means to an end, the scaffold to erect the building, liable to
alteration at any time, and finally to removal : and further,
that the rejection of a once-favoured hypothesis is not the
sign of a weak man, but of a strong one. The amateur rarely
has a working hypothesis, as he seldom attempts a set task.
It is for him, generally, to take note of isolated facts, often
during a long course of years, and his method is to follow
the facts wherever they lead him. To give one instance from
my own experience. A fisherman sent in a soda-water
"bottle, half full of muddy sand, which narrowly escaped being
rejected as worthless : the contents were examined, referred
to Mr. D. Pidgeon, who in turn consulted Mr. Gwyn-Jeffreys ;
and a marvellous collection of shells identified. Bottle
ground on outside, not inside : encrusted with serpulse. At
a meeting, Lord Kelvin mentions long waves recorded by
Sir G. G. Stokes. A letter is addressed to Sir G. G. Stokes,
with particulars of the bottle. Sir G. G. Stokes calculates
the wave disturbance at 40 fathoms, and finds it sufficient to
account for abrasion of the bottle. Thus, convincing
evidence is obtained of the intermittent action of waves on
the sea-bottom at considerable depths. In such a case as
this no working hypothesis is desirable. We have to ascer-
tain whether waves can roll about a bottle, at long intervals,

VOL. XXVIL U

282 PROFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH

in about 40 fathoms ; and it is advisable not to assume the
answer before studying each step in the problem. Working
hypotheses should rarely be celebrated in type. Artists are
not in the habit of sending their palettes to the Boyal
Academy, though the palette is the means to the end of the
finished picture. Just as the expression of opinion is the
confession of ignorance, so the working hypothesis is the
admission of uncertainty ; and to return once more to Mr.
Pengelly's admirable dictum — " We want to hear what Mr.
X. knows, not what he thinks." The opinion of the professor
is too often the curse of the student, an artificial barrier
across an otherwise practicable path— a sign-post with its
arms reversed.

The future of geology in England is most uncertain. Some
thirty years ago the brunt of the battle was borne by
amateurs — Lyell, ' Murchison, Darwin, Godwin - Austen,
Prestwich, Sorby, Pengelly, and other such. In those days
there was no professional training, and very few professors.
Indeed, originally, geology was but a branch of mineralogy,
and the object of the Geological Society, to study the
mineral structure of the earth. Now it is different. An
influential body of scientists aims at the endowment of
research, and this involves the substitution of the dictum
of the Professor for the free speech and discussion of the
amateur. It may be objected that I have called Professor
Prestwich an amateur, but, as Sir John Lubbock has pointed
out, that distinguished geologist was a merchant before he
was Professor of Geology at Oxford. (The Use of Lift, p. 48.)
In the case of an amateur, however distinguished, his
knowledge represents no pecuniary equivalent, and may be
as freely asked as it is invariably freely bestowed, but in the
case of the professional scientist, it would be as unfair to
expect from him his professional knowledge gratuitously, as
it would be to expect the same from doctor or lawyer. On
one occasion, desiring an item of information from a young
analystic Professor on a question of water, I wrote him
a civil letter, offering, in case I was guilty of a breach of
etiquette, a fee of a guinea. As might be anticipated,
the letter was unanswered. Had my amateur correspondents
acted in a similar way, almost every one of my researches
would have fallen through.

Theoretically, omniscient professors with unlimited leisure,
and fully endowed, would be the scientific Utopia. But un-
fortunately, professors are not omniscient, and their very
professional duties take up time that might be devoted to

IN SOUTH DEVON. 283

research. In many instances, an amateur living within sight
of a problem may, in the course of his life, glean important
facts, from which a Professor, in the course of a well-earned
week's holiday, may be, by force of circumstances, debarred.
The amateur who visits a new railway-cutting every day of
its excavation may secure facts, to be concealed for evermore
by the grass that will ere long cover its slopes. It is diffi-
cult to see how, in the interests of science, " those enemies to
true progress," as the Times dubs amateurs, can be entirely
dispensed with, and it is equally hard to see, if young
professors so think of them and treat them, how they will
ultimately survive. I write rather of the future than the
present, and not at all of the past. Conscious as I am of
invaluable assistance from Professors Boyd-Dawkins, Prest-
wich, Bayleigh, and Stokes, it could not be otherwise ; but
in the meantime, it is doubtful whether either of these dis-
tinguished specialists would stigmatize amateurs the enemies
of true progress. The only progress amateurs oppugn is
retrograde, if so glaring a bull may be pardoned.

Of "Fellowship" in scientific societies there seems but
little, the term being an instance of " survival." It is bad
policy, however, to discourage the subscription -paying
crowd. In my own case, whereas the co-operation and
esprit du corps of the Devonshire Association, and Torquay
Natural History Society, have been of inestimable advantage,
the Royal Society, the Geological, and the British Association
have been purely obstructive, making work, already difficult,
almost impossible.

Having many intricate problems on hand, in which the
difficulties have been clearly defined, I have listened most
attentively to the experts at the British Association, but
their remarks, unlike " Homocea," have ever failed to ° touch
the spot"1 The language of penologists is too often both
sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. It is the commonest
thing to find rocks described as containing opacite, ferrite,
viricQte, and a mineral which is either felspar or quartz.
This sounds learned, but is a pure statement of ignorance.
Some minerals are, no doubt, opaque ; others green ; many
have some connection with iron ; others are transparent, and
the odds are, are felspar or quartz. There are few other
things they can be without instant detection. Most of the
Dartmoor granites can be correctly described as composed of
transparentite, translucentite, opacite, greenite, and brownite,
with occasional crystals of blueite and yellowite. This,

1 Referring to the well-known advertisement

u 2

284 PROFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH

however, is not sufficient for the student, who desires either
to learn what a mineral is, or to ascertain that its exact
character is unknown. Take the case of chlorite and
viridite : both may be translated greenite. Now, chlorite is
a secondary mineral of known composition. Viridite, if not
chlorite, is usually hornblende, and to call it viridite is to
express ignorance of the only point which it is essential to
know, no doubt in a very learned sort of way. If, whenever
a petrologist had not proof of the character of a mineral, he
would either leave it alone, or call it agnostite, ignorantite, or
some such name, it would simplify papers immensely.
What a student desires to ascertain is what is known.
Guesses are of no manner of interest. When a traveller in a
new country asks the road, he requires a plain answer, one
way or the other. A sign-post is of greater value than the
most learned disquisition on the probable direction of his
goal. To the wayfarer in the less beaten tracks of science,
the sign-post, it may be noted, is as often outside the Royal
Society as in it. Of the friends who helped me in my
zoological work, Messrs. Gwatkin, Cooke, Marshall, Pidgeon,
Stebbing, and Norman were all then without the pale, though
the last-named has since passed within it. In South Devon
my chief colleagues, Messrs. Harker, Somervail, Tawney,
Ussher, and Worth, have all been outside the great divide,
and per contra, strange to say, the resistance of the anvil, so
necessary to all the best hammer-work, has been supplied by
the Societies. My paper on " Ripple-mark," subsequently
favourably mentioned by Forel, de Candolle, G. H. Darwin,
and others, and now actually cited in geological text-books,
was returned by the secretaries with a request to have it
shortened, if possible. They had, however, to take it or
leave it. This paper was severely left alone in the Presi-
dent's annual review of papers.

In connection with the above paper, one or two amusing
incidents may be noticed. The investigation comprised two
novel points of principle, and one of detail, i.e. (1) proof that
oscillating waves could be studied by means of models, and
that the behaviour of the model waves was in accord with
the mathematical theory of waves. (2) The vast question
of the variation of the forms of marine animals induced
by waves. (3) The demonstration of the manner of forma-
tion of ripple-mark in sand, so far as concerns the Geologist.
My conclusions differed from those of Dr. Sorby in so far
that they tended to prove that oscillating wave-currents had
been too much overlooked in favour of continuous currents ;

IN SOUTH DEVON. 285

so that " ripple-drift " had been treated as the rule instead of
the exception. Now, of course, I might have accentuated
this, and tried to pick holes in the work of a man whose
pencil I was scarcely worthy to cut, and who has always
treated me with the utmost kindness. I determined to con-
fine myself to my own experiments and observations.
Presently, my manuscript came back, referring me to
Dr. Sorby's works, and with a request for curtailment.
It may be noted that, after all, my three subjects only
took eighteen pages between them. In response to this,
I added a diplomatic paragraph minimising to the utmost
my difference from Dr. Sorby, and I may have possibly cut
out a few lines, but when a paper has been already condensed
to the best of the author's ability, it is no easy matter to
mutilate it to please outsiders, without serious injury to its
value as a whole. That paper, from that day to this, has
never been discussed, though now cited as an authority,
and I was informed on the best authority that it had been
unfavourably received. Before publication, the famous soda-
water bottle had come to hand, confirming my other observa-
tions in the most striking manner. A note of a few lines
was accordingly added, but this was unceremoniously omitted.
The two main principles established by this paper, viz., the
efficacy of models, and the influence of waves on fauna, have
never, I believe, been noticed by the Society. Let us see
how this despised paper, or its principles, were received
elsewhere. (1) Mentioned in the British Association's
Presidential Address at Montreal; (2) handsomely recog-
nised by Douglas and Reynolds in their appointment of
its author as a member of the Estuaries Committee;
(3) commended by Forel, de Candolle, G. H. Darwin, and
P. H. Gosse; and (4) finally recognised by the exceedingly
complimentary election to the Linnean Society. Tet I am
confident that had it not been for the influential position
of the Fellow who communicated this paper, all three
researches would have been promptly suppressed by the
Royal Society of London.

There is not the smallest doubt that had I studied physi-
ology under a Professor, and devoted my spare time to
mincing live monkeys, or some such cheerful occupation,
the latter-day road to fame, the work would have been
discussed, and the way thereby made smooth: but, for
steady research of the old sort, there is but a poor market
nowadays; unless the goods are duly branded with the
professorial iron, published cum privilegio. Indeed, what

286 PROFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH

with Professors professing they will not listen to evidence ;
or too busy to afford students five minutes of time devoted
to polemics ; or suppressing essential discussion in their one-
sided journals ; British science is going the best way to fairly
^arn the scepticism and covert contempt it too often gets
from an indifferent public. And the scepticism of the public
is a very genuine thing.2

I remember once at a conversazione showing a gentleman
a slide of fossil desert sand, and telling him how the slide
proclaimed an arid desert, a river, and a lake. He did not
think I was a knave, and was too polite to say I was a fool,
but clearly thought so. Tet the chain of evidence was
almost as complete as could be wished.

In connection with the Royal Society, one or two Devon
Association incidents may be of interest X, Y, and Z were
three old members, of whom X was f.r.s. Then came Y to
Z, declaring that if X was F.R.S., there was no reason what-
ever why he, Y, should not put up too. Y accordingly
became a candidate. Thereupon, immediately came X to Z
declaring that if Y got in, the fellowship was not worth
having. Z, the confidant of both friends, chuckled greatly
over this. However,! must confess that Y rather overrated
his claims. He was, no doubt, an able general practitioner,
but X and Z were both specialists and authorities in their
respective lines of study.

One disappointment pained me, perhaps, more than it did
the chief actor. I was driving out with an old friend who
had devoted the leisure of a long life to Natural History ;
our goal, a fossiliferous cliff of high importance, which he
had practically discovered for science, because he had been
the means of fixing its most important horizon. Suddenly
he said to me, "Well, they elected you, but they would
not have me." A confusion of thought, for the "theys" were
different. He referred to my election by a club, and his re-,
jection by the Royal Society. The remark was hard to meet,
but my proffered consolation was, " You must either invent
some new theory, or upset somebody else's theory ; it does not
matter the least which, but you must do one or the other."
But the plague of it, that this kindly old naturalist should
have put himself in competition with "the professors and
their young pupils, or assistants," and felt this shadow fall
on the last years of his life. My own experience may be

2 . . . "it would not surprise one to hear the contrary view laid down
authoritatively any day ; for science is hardly more stable in its views than
the British Electorate. — Spec. Corresp. Times, Aug. 6, 1895.

IN SOUTH DEVON. 287

worth a note, too. Almost before I had done a stroke of
solid work, an old F.R.S., with a quizzical expression, en-
quired one day if I had any ambition to be a Fellow of the
KoyaL Pausing a moment, I replied that the fellowship would
not be of much use, but that I should certainly like to be up
to R S. standard. Long years after this, there happened
a casual visit to the same old philosopher, and the un-
erpected enquiry, not quizzical this time, "Whether I had
ever thought of becoming a candidate for the Eoyal Society?"
No, I certainly had not — obloquy and contempt do not lead to
that goal ; it was all I could do to stem the opposition, without
seeking to join the current. But the quarter the suggestion
came from — it was quite sufficient. Had I been elected by
the unanimous vote of the existing Council, with the
approval of the ghosts of all previous ones, and my Nestor
had doubted, the satisfaction would have been less.

The suggestion was promptly scouted as preposterous;
but I, later on, went so far as to inquire the modus operandi.
I was fairly taken aback. My idol was a shattered Dagon.
The first prescription was to take a list of members, to note
my friends, and enlist their services. What! write myself?
Yes, nowadays, election entails hard work on the part
of the candidate. Then far better stay out ; and the only
use made of the list was to analyse the composition of
the Society as already mentioned. The result of this analysis,
together with years of observation of the feuds and petty
jealousies of scientists, resulted in the conviction that,
however gratifying election may be to the amateur, and
however valuable to the professional man whom it places at
the top of his profession, amateurs would serve the cause of
science far better by preserving their independence and
criticising the professors, than by humbly going, cap in hand,
to solicit their patronage ; and, indeed, there is far too much
of such obsequiousness in the characters from last places,
submitted by suppliants for vacant situations at Burlington
House. I have known of one man, one of the bright lights
of the century, who, with the most patent humility, has not
been able to conceal his gratification with the mystic F.R.S.,
and a little attention from some university. An electric-
light basking in the illumination of a gas jet; or, perhaps
more accurately, a diamond rejoicing in its golden setting.

It is, however, very hard to realise that a man is no
wiser for being made f.r.s. I am entirely unable to do so
myself; yet it must be the case.

When a provincial naturalist follows up some definite line

288 PBOFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH

of study, he sooner or later finds himself brought up, to
use an expressive nautical term, by some incidental col-
lateral problem which his library and local friends are
unable to surmount. The obvious course for him to pursue
is to submit the point to some learned society, at whose
hands he may either obtain the desired information, or,
what may prove equally useful, ascertain that the point is
undecided, and a question for further research. If, however,
he attempts this, the probability is that his paper will be
rejected, as being either immature, controversial, of the nature
of preliminary notes, or as constituting only a single phase of
a long discussion. Papers tainted with these characters have
been pronounced by the highest authority undesirable for pre-
sentation to the Geological Society.8 And yet, as every theory
depends on a number of hypotheses, any one of which, if dis-
proved will wreck it like a house of cards, the most elaborate
theory may often be best tested by attacking these hypotheses
in detail. Take, for instance, the immense problem of the
Dartmoor granite, upon which volumes might with advantage
be written. The chief question to be answered is this. Is
the granite older or newer than the culm slates adjoining.
Yes, or no? Now, this question might be conceivably be
answered in a variety of ways. It might be proved that the
Dartmoor rock presented features peculiar to post-Carbon-
iferous granites ; or that the granite altered the culm rocks at
contact ; or that it injected them ; or that it caught up frag-
ments of these rocks ; or that it overflowed them. A long
treatise might be written in support of many of these pro-
positions, and no doubt every fact should be given its due
weight in an exhaustive treatise on Dartmoor. But the
whole theory would be effectually shaken by a single fact
proving that the granite was older than the culm rocks : e.g.,
Dartmoor granite in a culm conglomerate ; or culm slate
lying in sitil on the granite, absolutely unaffected thereby.
Now, our provincial might very well have the opportunity to
collect the evidence without the technical skill to make the
most of it Obviously, his better course would be to state
the case to the best of his ability, and submit it to a grand
jury of experts, who would decide whether the evidence
justified further enquiry.

Let me illustrate my meaning by one example. On the
road, near Yarner Wells, north of Heytor, the culm in the
immediate vicinity of the main mass of the typical porphyritic
granite is apparently unaltered ; elsewhere, when in contact

3 Proc OeoL Soc. 1886-7, p. 53.

IN SOUTH DEVON. 289

with the finer grained rock, it is indurated. In a slice of fine
culm sandstone, from Kamshorn Down, there are indications
of chlorides in the detrital quartz-grains. These are clues
which call for further investigation, and might of themselves
lead to the utter rout of the exclusively post-Carboniferous
theory : just as the induration by the fine intrusive granite
demolishes any exclusive pre-Carboniferous theory. Then
there are the culm conglomerates awaiting investigation, a
museum of pre-Carboniferous rocks, an unworked mine of
scientific wealth. But what inducement is there to dig
therein ? Nay, how much warning is there to desist from
any such attempt ? though, probably, not one geologist in a
thousand knows where these culm conglomerates are.

In the course of prolonged work on different subjects, the
student has often to leave interesting points by the wayside,
in the hope that they may be returned to at some future
time. Vain hope, for such points gather like snowballs as
time runs on. In conclusion, I propose to mention a few
such attractions reluctantly left behind on my own path.
For brevity, I state them in the form of an examination
paper.

(1.) Felspar-quartz-tourmaline veins, often deposited in
that order, are common on Dartmoor; the same secondary
minerals often pervade the ordinary granite. How are they
all related, to themselves and the parent rock ?

(2.) Quartz-mica concretions occasionally assume the
crystalline outlines of felspar, as though replacing that
mineral. Of this there is no evidence, no intermediate
links. May not these forms be analogous with the negative
crystals of the fluid inclusions ; determined by a felspathic
solution, or magma ?

(3.) What is the age of these quartz-mica concretions ?

(4.) Quartz-tourmaline concretions are common in connec-
tion with invading granites, just as the quartz-mica
concretions are common in the main masses; what
determines these different accretions ?

(5.) Does tourmaline ever, strictly speaking, replace either
mica or felspar, in the sense that silica or pyrites replace
the carbonates of a shell ?

(6.) Compact, typical tourmaline, often breaks up into
needles, rods, and allotriomorphic crystals. What are the
processes, and how do they differ in each case ?

(7.) Describe the fluid inclusions of all the chief granite
exposures of Devon, Cornwall, and Brittany. Mention their
points of resemblance and difference.

290 PROFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH

(8.) Describe the fluid inclusions in the secondary quartzes
of certain Devonian diabasic rocks, e.g. those of Winslade.
Distinguish them, if you can, from inclusions in plutonic
quartzes.

(9.) State clearly the points of difference between the fluid
inclusions of quartzes connected with granites, eruptive
rocks, and sedimentary rocks; not including the detrital
quartz of sandstones.

(10.) Assuming the purely post-Carboniferous age of the
Dartmoor granites, how do you account for the fact that
saline and fresh- water fluid inclusions lie side by side in well-
nigh every cubic foot of the rock ?

(11.) Assuming that the granite was pre-Carboniferous, ex-
plain the veins and intrusions which invade the culm slates.

(12.) The Dartmoor granite is divided roughly by three
systems of joints, in addition to an apparent bedding, which
commonly follows the contour of the ground. Explain all
four; bearing in mind the luted joints seen in freshly-
blasted specimens, and the tendency of the rock occasionally
to split along definite planes.

(13.) Quartz veins in the carboniferous rocks near the
granite often contain chloride inclusions. Discuss the rela-
tion of these quartz veins to the granitic quartzes, more
especially with regard to their initial temperatures.

(14.) Compact characteristic brown tourmaline crystallises
sometimes before quartz. Compact green tourmaline
crystallises sometimes before and sometimes after quartz, the
two inosculating. Discuss these points of difference.

(15.) Quartz-mica concretions often contain porphyritic
crystals of felspar, sometimes with rounded outlines; are
these invariably older than the concretions ?

(16.) The felspar-quartz-tourmaline rocks of Dartmoor are
often entirely free from mica : whereas the ordinary felspar-
quartz-mica rock almost invariably contains tourmaline.
Suggest a working hypothesis to cover these facts, explaining
the origin of the two rocks.

(17.) Near Bovey Tracey the ordinary granite is divided
from the culm slates by a large exposure of felsite, which
invades the culm. At Bottor rock is the well-known
diabase. Explain the origin and mutual relations of the
three rocks.

(18.) South of Dartmoor, towards the metamorphic dis-
trict, felsitic and basic exposures occur, lying between the
Channel granites and the Dartmoor granites ; to which are
they more closely related ?

IN SOUTH DEVON. 291

(19.) At Erme Mouth crystalline rocks abound on the
coast ; to what extent do these resemble the Dartmoor rocks
on the north, and the Channel rocks on the south ?

(20.) Assuming the metamorphic rocks to be Archaean,
account for their general resemblance as a series, of green
rocks, mica-schists, and quartz schists (the latter with tour-
malines), to the greenstones, slates, and sandstones (with
tourmalines) of the Devonians.

(21.) Assuming the schists to be Devonian, explain the
abruptness of the metamorphic boundary line.

(22.) To what, if any, extent is the absence of augite in
the metamorphic green rocks due to pressure, taking into
consideration the fact that the augite has completely dis-
appeared in certain of the Devonian greenstones ?

(23.) Trace the formation of the secondary albite in
the metamorphic green rocks.

(24.) Discuss the presence of two crystalline erratics on
the beach, near the Prawle. Describe them accurately, and
give your reasons for believing them connected, or otherwise,
with the blocks trawled in the Channel.

(25.) On the assumption that the Channel blocks are
erratics, how do you explain the abundance of granitic
gravel and sand on the floor of the English Channel ?

(26.) On the assumption that the blocks are in sitiX, how
do you explain the distinctness of the crystalline granitoid
rocks from those of Devon and Cornwall ?

(27.) Compare the Eddystone gneiss and veins with
the schists and veins near Salcombe, with special regard
to the microliths in the Eddystone felspar.

(28.) Compare the Lundy granite with the Dartmoor.
Explain why the Lundy rock is invaded by basic rocks,
whereas the Dartmoor rock is not so. Note the felspars
and fluid inclusions of these two granites.

(29.) Chlorides are not uncommon in the quartz-sand
of Start Bay. No chlorides have been recorded in any of
the Channel blocks. Why is this so ?

(30.) Compare the schorlaceous rocks of Dartmoor, the
Teignmouth breccias, and the Budleigh Salterton pebble
bed, and discuss the probability, or otherwise, of their
being related. Note particularly any differences.

(31.) Describe the sand from the Skerries Shoal, in
Start Bay. How do you distinguish remaniS rolled grains,
remaniS unrolled grains, felspars and quartzes rounded
in their parent rocks, and sands whose rounding is entirely
the work of the waves ?

292 PROFESSORIAL AKD AMATEUR RESEARCH

(32.) Distinguish granite river sand from the above.

(33.) What are the special characters of beach sands,
as compared with sands from deserts, shoals, and rivers?

(34.) The Torbay Raised Beaches are proved to be true
beaches by their stratification, and their beach-platforms cut
out of the rock. Their components are so angular and
unwaterworn that some geologists have denied their beach
character. Reconcile these apparently conflicting facta.
Both are facts.

(35.) Certain spheroidal chert pebbles, common on the
Chesil Bank, have been found on the raised beach between
Brixham and Berry Head. Cardium edule, a brackish water
cockle, is abundant on the Thatcher Beach. Restore the
coast-line between Berry Head and Portland, in the Raised
Beach era, to make these occurrences possible.

(36.) A bluish schorlaceous crystalline rock, apparently
peculiar to the Teignmouth conglomerates, has been dis-
covered at the Berry Head Beach. Discuss the presence
of this stone in connection with the chert and cockles
referred to above.

(37.) Between Trochus zizyphinus and Trochus granulatus
there seems every connecting link, both as to the granulated
sculpture and the profile. Is one the littoral, and the other
the coralline zone representative of a common ancestor, and
which is the older form of the two ? The radulae of inter-
mediate forms should be examined.

(38.) Flat-fish, lying on sand, are protected by form and
colour. Against what enemies does each of these protect ?

(39.) Assuming the giant sea-hares of Torbay to be the
ordinary Aplysia punctata, how do you account for their un-
precedented size; their extreme rarity; and the abnormal
form of the shells ? Assuming them to be a distinct species,
A. depilans, how do you account for their regular sequence
from molluscs indistinguishable from A. punctata, both as to
size and radulae; also for the fact that A. depilans and
A. punctata have been taken by Mr. Gwyn-Jeffireys, breed-
ing together ?

(40.) Stalagmite accumulates in three distinct ways — by
evaporation of the water in the air ; by discharge of carbonic
acid in a saturated atmosphere ; and in a third manner not
explained. The stalagmite of the Borness Cave and the
granular stalagmite of Kent's Cavern are examples of the
first two processes. Give your reasons for believing that the
crystalline stalagmite of Kent's Cavern represents Arctic
conditions, in which the surface was either frozen hard,

IN SOUTH DEVON. 293

with no circulation of water, or that, when not frozen, the
temperature of the cave was invariably colder than the outer
air ; whereas, at present, the temperature is the mean
temperature of the district. Discuss this question in con-
nection with the nodule and flake-tool men, with the glacial
epoch, and with the antiquity of man in general.

The foregoing forty thieves — for they have stolen a deal of
time — are all that occur to me currente ccUamo. They are
all questions which involve principle ; rungs of the ladder
which, if firmly surmounted, would place the climber
definitely one step higher, with a clearer view and more
extended horizon. It is doubtful whether, in the near
future, amateurs would be allowed to attack them without
the passive boycott or personal insult from those in high
places. And yet these questions ought to be grappled with.
Who will make the attempt ? Any one who floors the paper
would deserve a D.sc. and an f.r.s., though he would not
get them. However, he would ensure many steps in
advance, which would be far better.

It is very important for the student to remember that the
fret object of all the publishing scientific societies is to
avoid plagiarism. Truth is quite a secondary consideration.
It is a necessary inexorable rule that no alteration should
T>e made in a paper after reception. This would not, how-
ever, be necessary could scientists be trusted not to pick
each other's brains without acknowledgment. The procedure
is commonly as follows : — A scientist propounds an untenable
theory, which is more or less torn to rags in the subsequent
discussion. The theory, however, is published without
amendment, to the discomfiture of the unwary student.
Often, if the discussion could be published, and the paper
omitted, science would be the better gainer. The publica-
tions of the Institution of Civil Engineers are often of
extraordinary value, as the discussions are printed at con-
siderable length. Before reading a paper in the Journal of
the Geological Society, it is advisable to read the brief
comments of those who have heard the paper. The student
-will usually perceive that the paper is but an essay expound-
ing the views of the writer, from which scientists of equal
or greater eminence entirely dissent. In the case of original
research the precept must be taken literally — " Believe
nothing that you hear, and only half that you see." Nothing
must be taken for granted, every step must be retraced, and
every assertion verified. No opportunity must be missed of
exposing doubtful points to criticism. In the case of the

294 PROFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH

Channel blocks (it is begging the question to call them
boulders), an early paper was read to the Torquay Natural
History Society, before Mr. Pengelly and Dr. Sorby; six
times was the question submitted to the Devon Association,
twice to the British Association, and once introduced to the
readers of the Geological Magazine, The upshot of the
whole being that on this question, doctrine seems still far
from crystallisation into dogma.

In conclusion, I may mention an incident which made a
great impression on myself. Feeling the great responsibilty
of the search for truth, even in comparatively trivial quests,
I was startled to realise myself under the stimulus of
ambition. I prayed God to deliver me from such tempta-
tion. That was in 1882, when all my work was going with
a swing. At once the tide turned, and official obstruction
set in ; but, strange to say, private assistance and encourage-
ment was multiplied. If any evidence was wanted, that
precise evidence came to hand. What could be more
unlikely than that a sailor, unsolicited, should send me an
old bottle, confirming all my wave-work ; and that Sir
George Stokes should offer to calculate the wave action which
would produce the phenomena it displayed ? How remark-
able, again, that Mr. Tawney's executors should give me his
microscope ; that Mr. Teall should offer to show me the
characteristics of tourmaline ; that Mr. Somervail should
give me the only collected specimen of the Start schist
containing tourmaline ; that I should cut two slices of that
rock ; and that it should occur to me, one night, to search
the duplicate slice for tourmaline the next day; and that
the slice should contain but a single identifiable fragment,
the first slice containing not one ! Surely, this is a strange
experience for a student who had no interest in the Archaean
controversy, and would never have purchased a petrological
microscope? The search for truth is indeed no light matter,
not one to be sullied and degraded by personal ambition.
I should be inclined to counsel any young student who
believes in the God of truth, to write no line which he
cannot lay upon the altar on his bended knees; and if he
believes in no such God, is it worth while writing at all ?
The memory of the greatest fades like a flower ; " Let us eat
and drink, for to-morrow we die."

IN SOUTH DEVON. 295

APPENDIX.
" THE ROUNDING OF SAND-GRAINS BY WAVES."

"Southwood, Torquay, 10th April, 1887.

"Gentlemen, — I have been collecting materials for a short
paper on the rolling and rounding of sea-sand on shoals, and intend
to publish it in the Trans. Devon Assoc. 4 But as it is intimately
connected with a paper by the late Mr. Phillips in the Q.J.G.S., I
would give the Geological Society the refusal of it, provided, if
accepted, the paper may be illustrated by at least two micro-photo-
graphs of sands. I understand from Messrs. Waterlow that the
cost would be about 10s. for each plate.

"I may observe that I have no intention to criticise Mr.
Phillips' paper, but only to deal with a cause of the rounding of
sand-grains which had not, apparently, been brought before him.

" Yours faithfully,

" Arthur R. Hunt, f.o.s.
" The Secretaries, Geological Society of London."

To my surprise, this very formal communication never got
farther than the Assistant-Secretary and President, as the fol-
lowing letter will show :— „ m May^ 1887#

"Dear Sir, — I have been away from home for some three
•weeks, so the subject of my proposed paper has been in abeyance
"with me. I am much obliged to you, and to the President, for con-
sidering favourably the acceptance of my paper, but that, of course,
3nust be judged on its merits when received. I have no wish to
press the paper on the Society — far from it — but I only desire
^at, should the illustrations not be granted, the paper may be also
returned, as I rely greatly on the facsimile reproduction by photo-
graphy of my sand photographs. I will let you have both paper
«nd photo, as soon as possible. « Yoxm yery ^^

" W. S. Dallas, Esq." " A. R HUNT.

The position was now a singular one. Instead of submitting
any paper to the Council of the Geological Society, as anticipated,
it was clear that a special research, in which I had been assisted
"by Eayleigh, Stokes, and Sorby, was to be judged by Messrs.
ZDallas and Judd, men for whom I entertained the deepest respect,
Irat who had never, so far as I was aware, studied my special
subject. It was about time to prepare for a reverse.

4 This paper was never even read to a meeting, but entirely recast for the
Devon Association.

296 PROFESSORIAL AND AMATEUR RESEARCH.

"9th May, 1887.

" Dear Sir, — I enclose my paper on the rounding of sands by
waves, for the consideration of the President. I am very doubtful
myself whether it is a paper exactly suited to the Geological
Society, and if you and the President share my doubts, I would
suggest your returning it without taking any formal action. It
will then be published, in all probability, by the Devonshire Asso-
ciation, as a Devonshire paper. u your8 £aithfullv>

" W. S. Dallas, Esq." " A. R. HUNT.

The receipt of paper was acknowledged, but fearing it had been
pigeon-holed, I wrote : —

"Southwood, Torquay, 16th May, 1887.

"Dear Sir, — Not having heard from you since yours of 11th,
acknowledging receipt of paper, I just write to say that up to
Friday next my address will be Fox worthy, Moretonhampetead ;
after that date I hope to be here again.

" Yours faithfully,
" W. S. Dallas, Esq." " A. R Hunt.

In reply to the above, Mr. Dallas wrote me a very civil letter to
the effect that the President considered the paper "scarcely suit-
able " for the Geological Society, and that he ventured to think so
too.

The whole correspondence was amusing. There was not a
single Fellow of the Geological Society whose opinion of the paper
I desired, but the point was how to avoid too open a rebuff Had
I sent up Sir G. G. Stokes' letter as an appendix, that would, pro-
bably, have ensured acceptance. But that was reserved as a bonne
bouche for whatever Society welcomed the subject The doubt
whether the paper was " exactly suited " for the Geological Society
was, I regret to say, "wrote sarcastic," with the Kent's Cavern
experience in mind; my feeling being that, if not "exactly
suited," it ought to be.

The question lay in a nutshell. The then President of Section
C., Brit. Assoc, had proclaimed that rounded sand-grains were
good evidence of ceolian action. My paper went to prove that this
far-reaching conclusion was unsound. It would be hard to imagine
a more important and suitable subject for the Geological Society
to consider and discuss.

NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY OF OKEHAMPTON.

BY R. N. WORTH, F.O.8.
(Read at Okehampton, July, 1805.)

The leading features of the geology of Okehampton and its
neighbourhood are simple enough. The town itself lies in
the Gulmiferous trough of central Devon, on the verge of the
north-western corner of the Dartmoor granite. There is no
question that all the stratified rocks of the immediate
locality are Carboniferous, by no means rich in fossils, and
belonging to the lower portion of that system. They are
for the most part slates and shales, though a few grit bands
with quartz veins occur, and many of the beds are so
massive as to make very excellent local building-stone. Slaty
cleavage, in fact, is by no means pronounced in the district.
Ji special feature is the occurrence of Carboniferous lime-
stone at Meldon.

Traversing these Carboniferous rocks, contouring and
sweeping round the granite at no great distance, are some
"bands of " greenstone " — to use, for the moment, the familiar
:£eld term — and other rocks of igneous origin; and all
participate in the general northerly dip from the granite,
"which characterises the rocks of this region.

The granite of Dartmoor here rises to its highest point —
^t Tes Tor and High Willhayes ; and there is a wide zone of
stratified and associated rocks next the granite, which have
\>een the subject of contact and dynamic alterations. The
changes thus induced supply some of the most interesting
features of the local geology.

Finally, traversing both granite and Carboniferous rocks,
and at points the igneous bands included in the latter, we
have a series of metalliferous lodes and cross-courses — at
Longstone Hill, Meldon, the Castle, Halstock, Belstone, and
South Tawton, more particularly.

VOL. XXVII, x

298 NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY OF OKEHAMPTON.

Mr. TJ88her, f.g.s., places the stratified rocks of the vicinity
of Okehampton in the lower division of his grouping of the
Devonshire Culm-measures,1 remarking : " On their northern
outcrop, the beds forming this series occupy a very much
narrower tract than that to the south. Their northern out-
crop is about two to three miles in breadth ; their southern
outcrop varies very considerably, its breadth from Dartmoor
northward through Okehampton being about five miles, whilst
on the east of Dartmoor it is about fifteen miles, and about the
same on the west of Dartmoor through Lydford."

The general succession given by Mr. Ussher of these
Lower Culms, is as follows :

"Dark grey shales, with grit beds, seldom thick, and generally
even, slaty, and splintery shales, (type, St. David's Hill, Exeter).
" Even-bedded cherty shales and grits (of Coddon Hill type).
" Limestones and dark grey shales."

These limestones, "from their local development, and very
partial occurrence, both in the northern and southern areas,"
Mr. Ussher regards " as lenticular masses in the shales and
grits."

From these data, the Okehampton Culm-measures are not
only to be regarded as belonging to the lower group of the
series, but as falling into place in the lowest division of that
group — the immediate successors in time, as we have them,
of the Upper Devonians, which, however, they may or may
not, at this particular point, overlie. Evidence on that head
is wholly wanting; and I can only express an analogical
belief in the affirmative view of the proposition.

These Culm-measures are, in my view, undoubtedly the
oldest rocks in the Okehampton district

An important paper was read on the 5th June last, before
the Geological Society, by Dr. Hinde, f.g.s., and Mr.
Howard Fox, f.g.s., which is very suggestive in regard to
some, at least, of the Carboniferous rocks of this locality.
They identify what have been generally known as the Coddon
Hill Beds (though not including in the series all the beds
referred to it by others) as radiolarian beds, wa series of
organic siliceous rocks — some of a very hard, cherty
character, others flaky, and yet others of soft incoherent
shales." Beds superficially like grits have been found to be
radiolarian. These Coddon Hill Beds occur along a com-
paratively narrow belt of country, a short distance within

1 See the " Culm-measures of Devonshire/' in the Geological Magazine for
January, 1887.

NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY OF OKEHAMPTON. 299

the northern and southern boundaries between the Car-
boniferous and Devonian systems. Starting with the
northern exposures, they are developed in various localities
from the neighbourhood of Barnstaple, past Dulverton, to
Ashbrittle in West Somerset. On the south the beds are
traceable from Boscastle to the neighbourhood of Tavistock,
and on the east side of the Dartmoor granite they are found
near Ghudleigh and Bovey Tracey. They extend also from
Barnstaple to Fremington.

Forms belonging to twenty -three genera of radiolaria have
been recognized, included in the orders Beloidea, Sphaeroidea,
Prunoidea, Discoidea, and Cyrtoidea; in addition a scanty
but significant fauna (twenty-five species) of corals, trilo-
bites, brachiopods, and cephalopods is present in some thin
shaly beds near Barnstaple. Nearly all the forms are
diminutive.

These fossils are held to tend to confirm the view that the
Lower Culm-measures are the deep-water equivalents of the
Carboniferous limestone in other parts of the British Isles.
There is good work to be done by any local geologist in
tracing these radiolarian beds in this area.

Touching the age of the Dartmoor granite, perhaps I need
hardly argue that it is more recent than the Carboniferous
series through which, so far as Okehampton is concerned, it
rises. It is self-evident that a disturbed rock must be older
than the disturbing cause ; and, as a matter of fact, this was
thoroughly well recognised, some fifty years ago, by Sir Henry
de la Beche, who says—

"The intrusion of the Dartmoor mass was certainly after the
deposit of the carbonaceous series of North Devon, be the age of
that series what it may : it thrusts the southern portion of this
aeries northwards to Okehampton, cuts off the ends of trappean
bands and of associated beds of grit and shale near Christow and
Bridford, and sends veins into it in the valley of the Dart." 2

The limit on the other side is equally well marked by the
finding of Dartmoor fragments, identified as such by myself
as the result of systematic inquiry, in the red-rock breccias
— once deemed Triassic, now generally accepted as Permian —
on the coast from Teignmouth eastwards. The bricks must
be older than the house.

The age of the " greenstones " traversing the Carboniferous
rocks can be approximated in much the same way. They
are later than these rocks, because they are intrusive in

1 Rep. Corn, Dev, and W, Som. 165.

x 2

300 NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY OF OKEHAMPTON.

thein ; but they are older than the granite, because it meta-
morphoses them. This cannot indeed be seen, as a matter of
direct contact, in the vicinity of Okehampton ; but the two
form junctions near Tavistock, and there the evidence is
clear. Nor is there any reason to doubt that the intrusive
greenstones of the one area belong to the same series as
those of the other. The great distinction recognised between
the two localities, in the matter of igneous activity, is that
in and about Tavistock and Brent Tor, we get interbedded,
and therefore contemporaneous, lavas, ashes, and tuffs, as well
as the intrusive dykes, in large variety. Lieut.-Gen. M'Mahon
has shown, however, that this distinction is not so complete
as it once seemed to be. But of that more anon.

Another noteworthy feature of difference, as connected
with the granite of the Okehampton area, is the almost
entire absence of the dykes of felsitic rock known as elvans.
These are a later phase of the granitic outburst, for they
frequently traverse not merely the bordering rocks, but the
granite itself. They are quite common on the northern side
of the Moor, among the Devonian rocks, and their signifi-
cant scarcity among the Carboniferous on the northern,
points to the more urgent character of the deeper-seated
activities on the south, to which I elsewhere allude. On the
other hand, the granulite of Meldon is a phase of eruptive
granitic material unknown in mass elsewhere in Devon.

The last series of great earth-changes affecting the district
was the formation of the mineral lodes — the result, not of
one operation, but of a series. What De la Beche had to say
thereon can hardly be bettered.3

"The lodes upon Dartmoor approximate considerably to east
and west courses, and round its borders on the north, east, and
south, where mines have been worked, the same directions in the
lodes would generally appear. The chief exceptions seem some tin
lodes on both sides of Longstone Hill, near Okehampton, which
would appear to take courses about W. 30° S., and £. 30° N.
Such short parts of these lodes were, however, worked when we
visited them, that these exceptions may merely have been some of
the minor irregularities common to all lodes. [Thi*, however, is not
so.] Some eastern and western lodes between Bel stone and Oke-
hampton [Halstock] are cut by a N. and S. cross-course ; and a
cross-course, in which lead and silver ores have been found, tra-
verses the Okement, near the Castle."

To this it need only be added that the Belstone Consols
and South Tawton lodes run east and west.

8 Sep. Corn, Dcv. and W. Som. 302.

NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY OF OK E HAMPTON. 301

The minerals enumerated by Mr. Townshend M. Hall,
F.G.s., in his Mineralogist's Directory, as occurring at and
near Okehampton, independently of the mines, are : —
Amethyst, andalusite, axinite, chiastolite, hornblende, jasper,
opal, rock crystal, and tourmaline. The granite, 1 need
hardly explain, is essentially a mixture of quartz, felspars,
and micas — the second chiefly orthoclase, and the third
chiefly muscovite, but with biotite largely represented.
Calcite occurs with the limestone and elsewhere. The mines
add considerably to this total — Argentite, cassiterite, chalco-
pyrite, chalcocite, bismuthinite, galena, garnets, hematite,
limonite, marcasite, malachite, mispickel, pyrrhotite, semi-
opal, pyrites. The garnets include both colophonite and
grossularia; and the granulite yields fine crystals of pink
(rubellite) and green tourmaline. The microscope also shows
the existence as constituents of various rocks among other
minerals of apatite, apophyllite, indicolite, ilmenite, magnetite,
olivine, sphene, and topaz (in the granulite), while beryl is
also said to occur.

Among the mines of the locality — none now working —
are Belstone Consols, Copper Hill, East Wheal Maria,
Forest Hill, Fursdon, Holstock, Ivey Tor, Meldon, Okehamp-
ton, Sticklepath, South-Zeal.

Before passing on to a brief review of the leading features
of the petrology of the district, it may be well to call atten-
tion to the importance of a careful examination of the surface
deposits of our moorland valleys, especially at points where,
as near the fork of the ravine above Meldon viaduct, we
find large accumulations of more or less water-worn stones,
which occasionally, as here, suggest the former existence of
moraines. Whether ice had any share in the formation of
such deposits or not, it will be found that some, at least, of
their contents consist of rocks which cannot now be traced
in situ, and which, therefore, must represent portions of the
long-denuded superincumbent mass, the removal of which
has produced our present Dartmoor. A careful study of
these deposits would be of the highest value in supplying
material for a more than hypothetical reconstruction.

The Carboniferous rocks of the district have been touched
upon in sufficient detail already, and it is hardly necessary
— with the abundance of interesting material elsewhere —
to add more concerning them, than to say that they exhibit
every mark of great and repeated disturbance. Some very
interesting folds and contortions of the slate beds may be

302 NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY OF OKEHAMPTON.

readily seen, as in the quarry near the Castle, and on the
right of the road to Brightley.

These slates, as we have already noted, are traversed by
bands of igneous rocks, which bear a very definite relation
in their course to the contour of the granite massif. These
rocks are divisible into two great series — one volcanic,
formed contemporaneously with the slates and grits ; and
the other, intrusive, which has broken through them at a
later date — the familiarly styled "greenstones." It is these
intrusive rocks that yield the curiously fretted honeycombed
and seamed masses which it is the wise local custom of the
Okehampton folk to employ for the rustic coping of their
garden-walls. They vary considerably in texture, but are
mostly dark-grey in colour. Some are very fine and even-
grained, the only mineral distinguishable by the naked eye
being abundant minute specks of pyrites. Others again are
coarse; while some show what is called "lustre mottling "
very characteristically, and indicate clearly the presence in
quantity of pyroxenic constituents. They belong unmis-
takably to the same group as the so-called "gabbros" of White
Tor, Cocks Tor, Smear Down, and other localities near
Tavistock, generally classed in the present day as epidiorites.4

Lieut-General M'Mahon, f.g.s., in a paper on "Various
Rocks of Igneous Origiu on the Western Flank of Dart-
moor," published in the Journal of the Geological Society
for August, 1894, deals largely with the " greenstones " shown
on the Geological Survey map as outcropping on Sourton
Tors, South Down, and at Meldon. He notes the presence
of felsite and trachyte at Sourton Tors; and there and at
Meldon "the occurrence of some interesting tuffs, the
matrix of which has been converted by contact - meta-
morphism into what closely resembles the base of a rhyolite,
and which, in extreme cases, exhibits fluxion structure, or a
structure indistinguishable from it" He adds, that so com-
plete was the resemblance of the matrix to the base of an
igneous rock that he was " for long doubtful whether the
rock was not a lava full of volcanic ejectamenta" The
"extreme abundance of the fragments — pieces of six or
seven kinds of lava being sometimes visible in a single
slice," — with the extended area over which the deposits were
found, convinced him, however, that they were really meta-
morphosed tuffs.

4 Vide "The Igneous and altered rocks of S. W. Devon " ; and " Geological
Notes on the South Western line between Lydford and Devonport. " Trans.
Dev. Assoc, xix., xxi.

NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY OF OK E HAMPTON. 303

As to the epidiorites and their relations to the volcanic
rocks, General M'Mahon notes that the former are only
altered dolerites. He does not think that they need be
regarded as of very deep-seated origin ; nor did he find any
actual evidence in the area embraced in this paper that
the epidiorites are intrusive. My own impression is most
decidedly that they are ; but, as he points out, this need not
necessarily divorce them from the volcanic eruptions of
the period; and he remarks generally — "the epidiorites of
the west of Dartmoor may have been comparatively deep-
seated offshoots of the volcanic forces that seem to have
opened up numerous volcanoes in this region during the
Carboniferous age."

This, of course, is in absolute practical accord with the
suggestion made by me several years previously, that these
more basic rocks are the result of the earlier stages of the
igneous activities that initiated Dartmoor.

The volcanic tuffs and associated rocks of Meldon, which
General M'Mahon was the first to investigate and describe,
may be found under and near the viaduct, and on the
flank of Blackdown, both points being marked on' the
Survey map as "greenstone." Specimens from the out-
crop near the viaduct simulate the appearance generally
of lavas, but are really composed " of fragments of trachytic,
felsitic, and other lavas of somewhat more basic character,
cemented together in what now looks like the base of a
felsite" — this base, moreover, containing large quantities
of apophyllite. In some cases alteration has proceeded very
far to the simulation of rhyolitic characters, the profuse for-
mation of mica in the matrix, and a general appearance
of fluxion structure. These are, as General M'Mahon says,
very beautiful examples of the effects of powerful contact-
metamorphisra. The structure of these pyroclastic rocks
varies considerably, and " near the railway viaduct some
of the agglomerate beds contain quite large blocks of slaty
and felspathic rocks."

The Blackdown tuffs, as described, are chiefly made up
of fragments of trachyte and altered sedimentary rocks in a
very fine-grained micro-crystalline-granular matrix, origi-
nally a fine dust, all the slices containing a profusion of
mica.

It may seem rather venturesome on my part to question
the conclusions of General M'Mahon ; but I am bound
to say that while I accept the rock at Meldon viaduct as

304 NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY OF OKEHAMPTON.

a tuff, and do not doubt that there are tufaceous outcrops
elsewhere in the locality, I think there is equally good
evidence of the occurrence of a lava full of volcanic ejecta-
menta, and that if in this particular he and I are dealing
with the same exposure, I am clearly of opinion that his
original idea was the correct one.

I have nothing to add to his description of the viaduct
tuff, since it agrees exactly with my own observation ; still
it may be worthy of note that on comparing my section
with those of several other Devonian tuffs in my collection,
I find that it most closely resembles — though at a consider-
able distance — the highly-altered tuffs and volcanic -grit
which I obtained several years since from the detritus at
Cattedown ; 5 and which I have been compelled to connect
with some stage of the long-vanished volcanic superstructure
of the moorland. Hence these tuffs, which lie higher up in
the flanking series of the Dartmoor borders than any others,
certainly seem to lend their countenance to the hypothesis.

But I am unable to regard some of these interbedded
igneous rocks as other than lavas, charged with volcanic
fragments. Macroscopically, some specimens are not only
quite rhyolitic in general aspect, but have in parts almost
the texture of pitchstone ; and although I am only too well
aware of the danger of trusting to the naked eye in
these matters, still the broader view and the field behaviour
do count for something in the interpretation of cases of
doubt. That the tuff and the lava are of the same period is
clear ; but under the microscope their characters seem to me
distinctive enough ; and all that appears needful to account
for these allied phenomena is that at intervals during the
formation of the tuffs there were occasional surface-lava flows,
which took up such tufaceous material as they found in their
way. And since the volcanic agencies of which these rocks
are a vestige were active during the earlier part of the Car-
boniferous era, they may very well have been practically
in continuity with those with which we are familiar in
the Devonians.

One of the slides that I have examined consists in the main
of a doleritic lava, plentifully bestrewn with lath-crystals
of plagioclase, and enclosing derived crystals of felspar and
quartz, some broken, a number of fragments of doleritic rock
of various types, some marked by hornblende, and a few
granules of olivine. So well rounded are certain of the
smaller inclusions that they at first suggest an amygdaloidal

3 Trans. Devonshire Association, xxi. 77.

NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY OF OKEHAMPTON. 305

character, but others of the same kind are as distinctly
irregular and broken, and on farther examination it seems
clear that these regular outlines are due to attrition of some
kind or other. There is a strong resemblance in many of
these fragments to the proterobases, epidiorites, and amphi-
bolites of White Tor, Wapsworthy, and Cocks Tor — an
important point as bearing upon the age of these in-
teresting rocks. The containing rock has been subjected to
great pressure, and there is a very noteworthy development
of secondary mica traversing alike matrix and inclusions.

Of course it is quite possible, when an agglomeratic rock
consists at times of such large fragments as at Meldon, that
It slide may be cut from an inclusion, rather than from
the mass, so that we could not depend upon microscopic
evidence alone. If so, however, we merely shift the origin
one term back, and make this old lava-flow with its in-
clusions one of the parents of these Meldon agglomerates
(hence doubly clastic in their origin) — the father instead of
the child. The point is one of no little interest in working
out the local geological record.

General M'Mahon also notes the occurrence of a mica
diorite on South Down — a " compact igneous rock of purple-
grey colour, which has the appearance in the field of being
a contemporaneous lava. Under the microscope it is seen
to consist of a ground-mass formed of a meshwork of small •
plagioclase prisms, with a red mica next in abundance.
Hornblende is not prominent, but sphene and apatite are
abundant, and there is a fair amount of magnetite or
ilmenite." I agree with General M'Mahon that this rock
is probably contemporaneous. It is well marked and dis-
tinctive in character.

The noted Meldon granulite first finds record in the pages
of De la Beche, as " white granite." It is essentially a mix-
ture of quartz and felspar, in mass ; but fifty years since
distinctions were comparatively few.6 He says : —

"For appearance few granites can exceed the white variety
found up the valley of the West Okement, near Okehampton. It
occurs as an isolated patch [patches] amid altered carbonaceous
locks, greenstones, and limestones, on the skirts of Dartmoor. It
is a beautiful material, and may be obtained in large quantities, but
we believe it has not hitherto been employed, except by the
Hon. Newton Fellowes, for a chimney-piece, at his seat at
Eggeeford, near Chulmleigh, in North Devon. At a short dis-
tance this granite has the appearance of statuary marble."

6 Bcp. Corn, Dev. and IV, Som. 501.

306 NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY OF OKEHAMPTON.

The Meld6n granulite is likewise referred to at some length
by General M'Mahon, and as an unquestionable instance
of intrusive character : " It not only cuts obliquely through
the bedding of the slates . . . but near its margin it sends
numerous veins into the slates, and infolds large slabs of
them in its arms. The slates in contact with the dyke are
highly altered." That is, they are baked, and the intruding
rock generally behaves itself just like an ordinary elvan
dyke, only that the contact changes are greater.

Mr. J. H. Teall, F.R.S., who describes this rock in his
British Petrography, was the first to observe that it contains
a considerable quantity of topaz, in addition to quartz,
felspar (largely plagioclase), and white mica. Topaz fe
commonly developed in our griesens. He noted also the
beautiful green tourmaline, but does not seem to have
observed the pink variety of that mineral, or rubellite.

Gen. M'Mahon notes further, as a striking feature in
the Meldon granulite, "that the leaves of mica and the
prisms of felspar are sometimes bent, and in some cases
broken; and that the ground mass consists of a mosaic of
quartz and felspar," which is sometimes regarded as a proof
of dynamo-metamorphism. He believes, however, these
features to be " sufficiently accounted for, by supposing that
they were produced either when the granite was forced
through the jaws of a fissure in the slates, or by strains
when the dyke was solidifying."

That seems to me to meet all the necessities of the case,
for the chief effects of alteration here are of a contact
character. One of the most interesting examples is that
of a slate baked into a grey semi-porcellanous mass, in
which spots of more highly vitrified material present them-
selves— no doubt the precursors, had the process been carried
farther, of definite crystallization.

And this leads me to consider the metamorphism of the
district generally.

In some passing notes on the results of contact-
metamorphism on the west side of Dartmoor, read at Barn-
staple in 1890, I said I should be inclined to generalise
by the statement that the principal change produced in the
schistose rocks of the Okement and Lyd valleys was one
of texture, by way of induration and banding. In fact,
banding is one of the most common characteristics of the
altered slates of this region. Next the granite, the Carbon-
iferous shale is frequently converted into a massive black

NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY OF OKEHAMPTON. 307

rock with semi-conchoidal fracture — really a form of hornfels
— while within a few feet we may have the lamination fairly
preserved in the form of coloured bands.

One of the best spots to study these changes is at
Meldon, in connection, not only with the granulite, but th6
granite. The immediate contact rock is of this massive
hornfels type, graduating into a dark- and light-grey banded
compact rock of cherty aspect — in short, a schistose hornfels.

At Meldon, too, may be studied the effects of contact-
metamorphism on the grit bands interstratified with the
slates. These, which in the upper valley of the Lyd at
times, become essentially quartzites, may here be found
compacted to the frequent obliteration of all traces of
original bedding. There is also a tendency to the aggregation
of their micaceous constituents, resulting in the most
extreme type of change in the production of banded
tourmaline quartzites, closely akin to the Continental
tourmaline hornfels. The microscopic examination of one
such Okehampton example shows that the rock now consists
essentially of granular crystalline aggregates of quartz and
tourmaline. Here there has been a double change — first the
aggregation of the mica, and then the transformation of the
mica into the tourmaline — the original rock haying been
evidently a coarse-grained micaceous grit. The tourmaline
is mainly more or less crystalline, in bands, commonly
brown in colour in thin section, less frequently the else-
where more characteristic blue.

The changes, however, in the slates of the altered zone at
Okehampton are, with one notable exception, rather in the
direction of induration, than the development of new
minerals. We find nothing approaching the production of
mica schist, still less of pseudo-gneiss, of plentiful andalusite
and chiastolite, (with the exception for the latter of one
locality) as in the well-marked region from Meavy round
to Cornwood and Ivybridge. At first, the slate is merely
made more compact and occasionally gritty, without mate-
rial gain in hardness; then it is porcellanized. Finally, it
becomes the massive cherty or flinty rock already described,
with well-marked conchoidal fracture, and oftentimes a not-
able development of pyrites in the mass, and specially on the
joint faces, occasionally accompanied by chalcopyrite. The
most curious form of metamorphism that I have noticed in this
connection, is in a massive, somewhat rough-textured, black
rock, evenly dotted with small, dull-shining patches, which
looked much like augite. Slicing, however, proved that I was

308 NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY OF OKEHAMPTON.

dealing with a gritty slate highly charged with carbon, in
which the schistose texture had been obliterated by pressure,
save on the margin next the joint face ; and that the polished
mottling had been produced by shearing action, in which
the varying hardness of the rock had caused its particles to
undergo unequal pressure as they slid over each other.
Quartz grains, more or less crushed and broken, were thinly
scattered throughout.

The most notable feature of the contact-metamorphism of
the district is the very remarkable development of garnets.
Now garnets occur elsewhere in the contact zone of Dart-
moor as a product of metamorphism ; but this particlar
phase is nowhere so strongly marked as at Belstone Consols
and Meldon. The lode at Belstone Consols is, indeed,
essentially a course of garnet rock — the common brown
garnet, which occurs both massive and crystallized. In like
manner, the spoil-heaps of the abandoned mine at Meldon
yield the green garnet or grossularia, which, so far as I am
aware, is found nowhere else in the West of England.
There seems a greater local proneness towards the produc-
tion of garnet as a result of contact-metamorphism, in
Carboniferous than in Devonian rocks; while it has been
found elsewhere that the production of garnets by metamor-
phism is very commonly associated with limestones. Hence
the significance, in this connection, of the Carboniferous
limestone at Meldon.

Both these points — at Belstone Consols and at Meldon —
are within half-a-mile of the granite; and the former was
long since selected by the late Sir Warington Smyth, F.R.S.,
as one of the most typical examples of contact-metamorphism
on this side of the Moor. I found a kind of garnet schist,
some years since, at Peek Hill, on the Meavy. More recently I
have noted veins of granular garnet in a much altered-Carbon-
iferous slate, now massive and of a flinty texture, on the
flank of Ugborough Beacon ; and garnet (including the form
known as melanite) occurs also in connection with "green-
stone " at South Brent. Nowhere in Devon, however, do we
find this mineral so abundant as in the Okehampton area.

The garnet rock at Belstone is generally more or less
crystalline, and contains numerous well-formed crystals, so
far as the exterior faces are concerned. It also occurs in
a massive form with smooth conchoidal fracture ; and again
at times puts on an appearance resembling a rough-textured
chert, which is frequently associated with friable aggregates

NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY OF OKEHAMPTON. 309

of imperfectly-cohering small irregular crystals. It is chiefly
of the common type, and of a brownish hue, but passes into
grey-green in places, and thence casually into grossularia.
There are a few reddish patches, which indicate a tendency
to vary towards the red or almandine variety, but it is
nothing more than a tendency. I have also found a few
translucent crystals of a fairly pronounced oil-yellow, which
may be regarded as colophonite. All that have been noted,
therefore, belong to the iron- or lime-alumina, or lime-iron-
alumina groups.

From the occurrence of a yellowish-brown rough-textured
rock in which garnets are imperfectly and casually developed,
and which also shows the well-preserved forms of what were
originally crystals of hornblende, there seems good reason
to believe that this Belstone garnet rock is the product of
contact-alteration on an igneous band of trachytic character,
which from other indications was well charged with iron.

The altered sedimentary rocks associated with it are either
baked and semi-porcellanized, or else compacted, retaining
traces of an original schistose structure — clearly they have
not come within the operation of the metamorphic force
so fully as the parent of the garnet vein. Copper ore
occurs with the garnet rock — chiefly the yellow chalcopyrite,
but occasionally the grey chalcocite — pseudomorphous after
the garnet crystals. It seems most probable, therefore, that
the metamorphosis of the garnet rock and its mineralization
were fairly contemporaneous, and that the action on the ad-
jacent sedimentaries was rather of a secondary character.

The fact that the contact-metamorphism of the Okehamp-
ton district, while differing in character, is not so pronounced
as on the southern borders of the Moor — nor, indeed, as in
the valley of the Lyd — implies, of course, that the contact
forces — mainly heat and pressure — must have acted with
greater vigour in one area than in the other. There are
points near Shaugh and Meavy where the slates in im-
mediate contact with the granite have been fused into
felstone, to the almost entire extinction of their original
character.

Such a contrast, however, is precisely what we might have
expected, & priori. The Devonian rocks underlying the
Carboniferous, the erupting granite in contact with them
would be nearer the original source of heat, while the
dynamic action would be much greater in consequence of
the higher resistile force at such an increased depth. At

310 NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY OF OKEHAMPTON.

Okehampton the molten mass would be much nearer the
surface, the rocks underlying the Culm series having been
already traversed by it. Hence the lessened influence, both
of heat and pressure.

All this has a very important bearing upon the hypothesis
which I put forward in 1888, and since then have seen
no reason to modify or abandon, only to hold the more
firmly: tbe hypothesis that our modern Dartmoor is but
the basal wreck — the mere stump — of a volcano which once
towered some 18,000 feet into the air ; and which has been
gradually wasted and denuded by the forces of Nature,
until the scattered vestiges of its higher regions are to be
found only in the breccias of the red-rock conglomerates
of the east and south-east of the county ; or perchance here
and there in some ancient detritus, as at Cattedown ; or even
casually in the valleys of the Moor itself.

DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS.

Part I.

BT T. N. BRU8HFIBLD, M.D.
(Read at Okehampton, July, 1895.)

The student of the social history of this country has long
been familiar with the circumstance that, from a compara-
tively early period, and on the authority of a document
termed, during the last three centuries, a Brief, authority has
been frequently granted to individuals as well as to com*
munities, to solicit the aid of the charitable throughout
the land, on account of calamities of various kinds, such as
losses by fires, storms, wrecks, plagues, pirates, &c; to
aid in the ransom of prisoners and captives, especially those
taken by the rovers of the African coast; and to assist
in carrying out objects of great public utility, such as
the construction and repair of harbours, and (especially
in later times) the erection and repair of churches.

It is only within a recent period that the subject has
received any special attention, although lists of collections
made in this manner, and occasional comments and
notices, are to be found in literary and antiquarian periodi-
cals. The earliest, and still the most complete and impor-
tant work upon it, is that of the late Cornelius Walford,
entitled, " Kings' Briefs : their purpose and history," first
read at a meeting of the Royal Historical Society, and
published subsequently in their Transactions in 1882.1 In it
he embodied an important article on "Some Early Briefs/' by
S. R Bird, printed in the Antiquary of 1881. 2

1 x. 1-74. With the addition of a short preface, it was re-issued in a
separate form daring the same year. A short article, under the heading
of " Brief," appeared in the Insurance Cyclopaedia of the same author.

a iii. 167-9, 218-20.

312 DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS.

In the present paper, no pretensions are claimed to give
a complete history of the subject. It may rather be con-
sidered as a supplement to that of Mr. Walford, some of the
gaps in which are filled up. At the same time, it is purposed
to give a list of all recorded briefs relating to Devonshire
persons or objects, together with any desirable particulars,
especially in the instances of the few examples at present
known, of those that are dated prior to the Restoration. Also
a general account of collections made within the county for
out-county purposes ; references to any miscellaneous .briefs
desirable to be noticed; and, as a good example of the
numerous applications made to, and contributions by a
Devonshire rural parish, a list of the brief collections from
the period of the Restoration to their cessation in 1828,
contained in the Churchwardens' Account Books of East
Budleigh, will be given.

The term " Brief,'' in the sense of its employment in this
paper, is thus defined in the New Oxford Dictionary : —

"A letter patent, issued by the Sovereign as Head of the
Church, licensing a collection in the churches throughout England
for a specified object of charity ; called a Church Brief, or King's
LetterJ*

The term "letter patent" appears to be more strictly
applicable to the original Warrant, or Authority ; and that
of " Brief " to the copies of this Warrant that were circu-
lated throughout the country, and on which the col-
lection was made. The following corroborate this state-
ment : —

1589 — "The ymprintinge of the Brief es of all letters Patentes,
&c." *

1625, Aug. 11 — "To be printed so many Briefs of these our
Letters Patent, as may suffice, &c." 4

1628 — "And you the said parsons . . . deliberatly publish
and declare the tenour of these our letters patents, or the coppy or
briefe thereof." 5

Before proceeding further, and in reply to any question that
may be raised as to the utility of describing, or giving any
details of them, it may be remarked that the ordinary notices
of Briefs in parish books record many occurrences in the life-
history of a parish, of which no other report exists, and
even all memory of them may have passed away, the

3 Beg. Stationers1 Co. ed. Arbkr, iiu 463.

4 Procl. Charles I. Cal. S. P. Dom. 1625-6 ; v. 83.

6 Maldon Church Brief, in Wright's History of Essex, it 648.

DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS. 313

amounts required to repair losses by fire, &c, for repairs
of churches, &c, being frequently stated. Moreover, where
a copy of the Brief itself has been preserved, many im-
portant details are noted at length. It is by the gradual
accumulation of these small facts, hitherto neglected, that
many gaps in the histories of parishes, especially of rural ones,
are filled up. The two following examples show the infor-
mation derived from the customary short notices of collec-
tions in parochial books.

1. There are no local accounts, or even tradition, of a fire
that took place in the parish of East Budleigh late in the
17th century ; and yet, judging from the many collections
made throughout England, a very extensive one occurred in
it about the year 1681. Of these collections the following is
an example : —

Stanton St. John, Oxfordshire. (Par. Keg.)

" 1681. Nov. 27. Collected by a Brief for
a Fire at East Budley, in ye
County of Devon . . . 0 4 2." •

2. A great fire took place at Ottery St. Mary, in 1715, not
mentioned in any County or local history,7 but it finds record
in notices of collections on Briefs made on behalf of the
sufferers; e.g.

Drayton Beauchamp> Bucks.

"1716. Jan. 6. Ottery St. Mary, in com.
Devon, losse by fire £4466 and
upwards. Collected . .01 6.,,s

Walford gives the following list of names by which they
have been known : — " Kings' Briefs . . . Kings' Letters,
Orders in Council, Patents of Alms, Letters Patent, Fire
Briefs, Church Briefs, Charity Briefs, Commissions, Boyal
Letters, &c, &c." (1, 2.) At the present time it is
customary to call them "Church Briefs," but the term is
not strictly correct. In by far the greater number of
instances, it is true, they were placed in the hands of the
Ecclesiastical Authorities, and the document was read in the
Church; but exceptional cases occurred as far back as the
16th century ; and at a late date, long before Briefs were

6 Reliquary, x. 11. Except where otherwise stated, the quotations from
Parochial Records are always taken from Churchwardens' Accounts.

7 The Rev. Dr. Cornish, in his History of the Church, <fcc., of Ottery St.
Mary (30), describes three great fires in that town in 1604, 1766, and 1866,
but omits mention of that of 1715.

8 Reliquary, xvii. 23.

VOL. XXVU. Y

314 DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS.

abolished by Statute, collections upon them were made in
Nonconformist Chapels.9

The employment of the word "Brief," in our restricted
sense, is traceable to about the middle of the 16th century.
The earliest example given in the New Oxford Dictionary is
dated 1588, but the Registers of the Stationers9 Company
mention one of 1578.1 Another term — "Protection" —
preceded it in the same century, and continued to the
middle of the next one. In 1511, the Prior of the
Monastery of Kirkby Beler, in Leicestershire, was granted
"Protection and licence to declare indulgences and collect
alms and donations for the monastery, being in great decay."2
Without multiplying examples, it may be sufficient to notice
the latest known. The Yeovil Brief of 1640 is thus headed :
— "The Protecion for losses by fire graunted unto the
Inhabitants of Yeovill, in the County of Somersett"8

Although we have evidence that, from about the 13th
century, collections for various charitable purposes were
occasionally authorised to be made by Boyal authority, yet
we know but little about them ; probably, they were com-
paratively infrequent up to the time of Elizabeth, but from
that period, and excepting during the time of the Civil War
and of the Commonwealth, their numbers rapidly increased,
and many Briefs were issued annually until their abolition
by Statute in 1828.

Our knowledge of such collections is derived from several
sources, but owing to the circumstance, that until the 18th
century it was not obligatory to keep any register, or
preserve any account of them, our information of Briefs
issued during the 16th and 17th centuries (especially of
those of the period of James I. and Charles I.) is very
meagre and imperfect. State papers, local histories, munici-
pal records, copies of Briefs that have been preserved, have

9 As a word of caution, it must be noted that, even in parochial records,
the term " Brief" was sometimes employed in an entirely different sense,

e-9- : ration.

" 1559. Payde for drawyng the Koppye of the bryfes of the

stattutes . .... xijd."

(Som. Hcc. Soc. iv. (1890), 171.)

St. Dunstan's, Canterbury.

"1569. Item payed for a breafe consearnynge the nombers

of the comunycantes and abelle men . . ijd."

{Hist, of, J. M. Cowper, 85.)

1 Ed. Arbkr, iii. 334.

2 Cal. S. P. Letters, &c, of Hen. VIII. i. 1504-1514, p. 285.

3 Som. and Dors. N. and Q. i. 70.

DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS. 315

yielded a certain number of examples, but the principal
number have been obtained from parochial records. In these
latter, and especially from the period of the Restoration,
entries of the amounts so collected, and for what purposes,
are to be found recorded in the Parish Registers by the clergy-
men, or in the Parish Account Books by the churchwardens.
In some places such entries (not repetitions) are found in both
the Registers and the Churchwardens' Accounts, as at Appleby
Magna,4 and at Goostrey.5 After the Act of 4 and 5 Anne,
c. 24, s. 7, requiring " a Register ... of all monies collected
by virtue of such Briefs " to be kept, a separate Brief Book
was instituted in some places,6 but, as a rule, the majority of
parishes continued the practice of recording the amounts
gathered in the Registers or in the Churchwardens' Books.

These sums so registered were, in the case of the Parish
Registers, invariably those obtained by voluntary contribu-
tions, and generally, also, those in the Wardens' Books.
Some of the items in the latter show that the amount was
defrayed out of the Ordinary Church Rate Account, but the
particulars are then rarely given, e.g. :

Minchirihampton.
"1635. for a briffe for fier 7 6d."

Swaiimoick.
"1638. to a briefe by a general consent 8 0 0 6."

Littleham.

"1706. Laid out to fower Breefs . . .036

Laid out to one Breefe . . .02 6." 9

In some parishes the Brief money was invariably paid out
of the Church Accounts. This was the practice at Bicton,
from 1763 to 1828, and the payments were customarily at
the rate of 3d. per Brief, increased, during the last few years,
to 6d.1 Also at Otterton, on the only three occasions when

4 Reliquary, xii. 140 ; ziii. 112.

* Eabwaker'h History of Sandbach, 246-7.

8 Brief Books were used at Canons Ashby, commencing in 1707 (Inf. of
Sir H. Diyden, Bart.) ; St. John's Church, Margate (Oumerod's Cheshire,
ii. 18S2, 54, 145) ; and Marat on, Yorkshire [Antiquary, viii. 249).

7 Arehccologia, xxxv. 444.

8 Annals, 106.

9 The extracts relating to East Budleigh, Littleham, Woodbury, and other
parishes in their vicinity, are transcripts from the MS. Parochial Books.

1 At Ash more, Dorset, " no collections were made in the parish, but a sum
of one shilling was given out of the Church rate. The object of the Briefs
is never entered." (Hist, of, by Rev. E. W. Watson, 1890, 91.)

Y 2

316 DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS.

any payments on account of them are recorded, all three
belonging to the present century, of which this is the first:—

"1811-2. Paid for Breefs . . . .0 2 0."

Sometimes the sole evidence of a Brief rests on some item of
expense incurred in obtaining or distributing the donations.

Pittington> Durham.

" 1596. Item given our expenses the xvij. day

. of Fabruarie, when we wer in with

the letter concernynge the men

which lay in bondage under the

Turke2 iiyd."

Houghton-le-Spring, Durham.

" 1604. when I caryed in the collection for

Geneva iiyd.

" 1680-1. For riding about the parish with a

breif 2s.

for carrying the briefe money to
Durham3 Is."

Wilm8low.

" 1679. Our charges in going to Prestbury and *
Alderley to send away ye Collection
money towards Chester for Redemp-
tion of the English prisoners in
Turkey and lost* by exchanging bad
groats in that money 4 . . .Is. 4d."

Littleham.

" 1770. To Postage of a Letter directed to the
Churchwardens for the fire in Honi-
ton."

While great national calamities would, as a matter of
course, be reported to the King and Privy Council, minor
evils calling for charitable assistance, would be represented to
them through various channels. In Cal. S. P. Dom. 1547-80,
we find this entry : —

" 1567. July 13, Bp. Grindall to Cecill. Begs him to further
the suit of the bearer for a licence to make a collection for certain
Englishmen, captives in Algiers."

Sometimes a Brief was obtained through the petition of
the Municipal Authorities, as at Lyme Regis in 1548. In
several of 1591,5 the certificate of two Justices of the Peace

2 Surfers Soc. (1888)41.
' Ibid. 282, 340.

4 J. P. Earwaker, East Cheshire, i. 116.

5 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1591-4, p. 128, etc

DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS. 317

was apparently sufficient. A brief, on account of the fire at
Tiverton, in 1612, was granted on a representation made
by the inhabitants, together with a certificate of several
Justices of the Peace. From the time of Charles I., a
certificate from Quarter Sessions appears to have been
necessary. When the Church of All Saints, Derby, needed
extensive repairs, the Vestry, on Dec. 26, 1713,

"Ordered that ye psent Churchwardens of ye Parish of All
Su do proceed to obtain a certificate for a Briefe The next
Generall Quarter Sessions of ye peace for ye County of Derby
for ya rebuilding of ye Church of All Su"

The Brief was obtained, and realised about £ 500.6
They were at first issued under the direct authority
and control of the King, " but later under the authority
of the Council, through the Lord Chancellor" (Walford,
2), or by the latter alone.7

Difficulties must have occasionally arisen, in the person or
persons who were to be benefited by the collections to be
made on a Brief, being able to defray the customary charges
of the letter patent. The following copy of a Bishop's letter
to the Clergy of the London diocese is very curious, inasmuch
as it was the authority for collections to be made in churches,
in 1586, for funds wherewith to defray these charges :

" Ihon [Aylmer] by the Prouidence of God Bishop of London.
To all Parsons, Vicars, Curates and Churchwardens within the
Cittie of LondoD, and the Counties of Middlesex and Essex,
Greeting,

" Whereas this bearer Thomas Butler of the towne of Colchester,
within the Countie of Essex aforesaid, Gunpowder maker, being at
worke for the making of Gunpowder in the Countie of Kent, about
fine yeeres now past, by sudden misfortune was pittifully burnt
and spoyled of his Eyes and Armes apparant yet to behold, then
losing all that he had, and since brought greatly indebted, and
where also the Byaliffes [sic] of the said towne of Colchester
tenderly respecting his wofull and diseased estate, directed their
certificate to the right honorable the Lord Chauncelor of England,
thereby beseeching his Lordship to graunt vnto him her Maiesties
lycense vnder the greate Seale of England, to aske the charitie of

• Hist, of All Saints' Church, 61.

7 "An Order to the Lord-Keeper of the Great Seal to grant Licences for
Collection* to be made through the Realm, for certain Petitioners his Subjects,
who had suffered much by Fire, Shipwreck, etc., and for Christians of other
Nations forced to fly hither on account of their Religion. 'Tis dated the 5th
of February, 1626 1l (Ada Xegia, 1732, 691.) In 1771 a Royal Warrant
delegated " full power and authority " to the Lord Chancellor to grant them.
(P.R.O. Warrant Book, 1770-1773, xxxiii. 137, 138.)

318 DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS.

well disposed people in seuerall Counties, to which the Lorde
Chauncelor of his wonted clemencie graunted, but now the saide
Thomas Butler by reason of extreeme pouertie, is fane vnable to
compasse the chardge of getting out the said Seale. Therefore
these are to request you, and euery one of you, to whome these
presentes shall come, that you reade this and publish this in your
Churches, and other places of assemblies, moouing the people to
extend their beneuolence and charitie vpon this poore man, that he
may the better be able to obtayne his sayd request. And this
present writing to continue for the space of one whole yere next
ensuing after the date hereof.

" In witnesse whereof : I haue set to my hand and Seale the xv
of September, in the xxviij yere of her Maiesties most gracious
reigne that now is. „ God ^ the Queene.» s

In the Hist, of St. John Baptist Church, Chester, by Rev.
S. C. Scott (1892), 128, it is stated, that in 1718, the parish
authorities were required to take " an oath before the Master
in Chancery, which was desired by the Lord Chancellor
towards obtaining a brief." That one was obtained, is
shown by this entry in the Parish Register of St. Larvrente,
Beading : —

"1719-20. March 13. Repairing St.

John Baptist's Church,
Chester, Charge . £3269 15s. 0d." (212.)

Whatever the form of this licence might be, it was usually
addressed to the Archbishop and Clergy, but that granted to
Lyme Regis in 1545 was directed to the Mayor, who acted
upon it. Probably down to the beginning of the seventeenth
century, a copy of this, accompanied by a circular letter
of the Bishop of the diocese, was supplied to every Church,
or to all included in the counties and towns mentioned in it.
The more definite form of letter patent instituted by the
Stuarts, would scarcely need the additional authority of the
Bishop (except in the reign of James I., when a reversion
to the form of a letter from the Privy Council was sometimes
employed), although a letter from the latter occasionally
accompanied it, under exceptional circumstances, down to
a comparatively late date.9

8 Coll. of Broadsides, <kc. (No. 52), Soc. of Antiq.

9 A great fire took place at Inniskilling in Ireland, in 1705, and nearly
500 of the Briefs, on which the Collections were made, are preserved in the
City of London Library. Amongst them are two printed circular letters
(the contents of each similar) of the Bishops of London and of Peterborough
to the Clergy of their respective dioceses, calling attention to the urgent
nature of the appeal.

DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS. 319

In the earlier licences, the Clergy were directed to use their
endeavours " to farther soe charitable and necessarie a pur-
pose." (Nantwich Brief, 1583.)

In the Tiverton Brief of 1612, the clergy were urged to
exhort and persuade their congregations "to extend their
liberal contributions in so good and charitable a work." In
the Bishop of London's letter of 1622 (given in extenso, post),
the Clergy were requested " upon some Sabbath day, in the
time of Diuine Service,"- to prevail upon their parishioners
" to extend their bountifull liberality " in aid of the Brief.
The collection was to be made "after the due and usuall
manner from seate to seate, and such of the Parishioners
as shall be then absent, to collect their gratuities at their
houses." The amount so gathered was to be endorsed on the
Bishop's printed document " in letters, and not in figures."
This is the earliest record yet found containing these three
specific directions. The customary mode of collection was
" either in the Church or from house to house." * The inser-
tion of the amount collected on the back of ordinary Briefs,
in letters at length, dates from the reign of Charles I. The
Collectors were usually the Churchwardens (and were so
named in the Briefs), but it was the practice after the
seventeenth century to delegate that office to the Clerk,
except in the house to, house visitation. The document
always stated to whom the money collected was to be
paid.

The Patent of Alms may be briefly alluded to here. Walford
(3) describes it as " another form of brief intended to be
used personally, and without the organized machinery used
in the case of ordinary briefs." It was the subject of many
abuses, and in a great many instances was employed as
an instrument for ordinary begging; probably, in some, it
passed from the original holder to others, to be used in
a similar manner. Here are some Devonshire examples :

Tavistock.

"1588. Item paide to one that col-
lected with the broad seale . vjd " 2

Woodbury.

" 1593-4. pd to a bocher of Torinton that

had the Quena brod seale . vjd"

1 Tbifl ifl the form used in "The Breefe for ye Towne of Cambridge
greeuously visited with ye plague," on which, in 1630, collections were to
be made. (Col. S. P. Dom. 1629-31, vol clxix No. 36.)

9 Onus's Mag. 1830, i. 410.

320 DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS.

Hartland.

" 1597-8. Geven to a poors man that had

a licence under the Great
Seale to begg . . vjd

1617. Paid a Gloster man who had
his house burnt, he having a
briefe to gather the countrey xviijd " 8

Plymouth Municipal Records.

11 1611-2. paid to a lame Captayne that

had Ires pattente . . vjB" 4

Littleham.

"1665. Laid out for a woman that

brought a breefe . . 00. 01. 00"

East Budleigh.

" 1665-6. to foure soldiers with the Kinges

broad seale to a gentle woman
with a briefe [sic] . . 00. 01. 00."

It was sometimes known as a " letter of request/' thus :

Calverley.

" 1733. Gave to John Friend, who had

a letter of request, for loss
sustained by Thunder and
Lightning . . 6d"5

The following transcript of a petition, evidently for a
patent of alms under the Great Seal, belongs probably to
the early part of the fifteenth century, and is interesting
for relating to a Plymouth man :

"Unto oure highe and mooste reverent fader in God and
graciouse lord Archbishop of Cawnturbury and Chaunceller
of Engeland.

Bisechith mekely youre poure orator and perpetuell bedeman
Richard Harrolde dwellynge in Plummouthe that it wolde please
unto youre graciouse lordshipp to knowen how that youre saide
bisechere is ifalle into grete poverte, standynge in grete age, and
he may not helpe hymselfe, for as moche as he hathe ispende his
tyme in ye Kynges werres by yende see, there beynge in prison
of longe tyme durynge, to his grete undoynge for evermore
withoute ye helpe and ye socoure of good mennes almes;
Wherefore please it unto youre full reverent faderhod and
graciouse lordshipp that ye wolde fowchesaffe atte the reverens
of God and of his dereworth passion to have compassion

8 Fifth Rep. Hist. MSS. Com. 572-3. * Ed. R. N. Worth, 147.

5 Registers, dec. of Calverley Church, S. Margetson (1888), ii. 18. Cf. List
of Briefs, Bottesford, Lincoln, in Church Furniture, by E. Peacock (1866),
240.

DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS. 321

and pitee oyer hym for ye pite that Criste hadde over Mary
Mawdeleyne graciously to grawnte to youre saide bisechere your
lettre of pardon under youre graciouse seale, as he evere more
desyreth effectually to pray for yow graciouse lorde, and for alle
youre full noble worthy a unset res, atte the reverens of God and in
werke of charitee."6

In addition to Briefs granted by, or under the direction of
Royalty, others were issued by Ecclesiastical Authorities,
by Municipal Corporations, and by Justices of the Peace,
but they were restricted to the localities over which the
respective bodies had jurisdiction, and probably were all of
the nature of patents of alms. They appear to have
disappeared at the Restoration.

Although "the Church exercised the right of issuing
them, not only prior to, but apparently coeval with the
Sovereign at one period " (Walford, 2), yet it is difficult at
the present day to cite many examples, after the middle of
the sixteenth century. Here is one :

Hartland,

"1640-1. Gave to a man who had a

collection under the Lord
Bishop of Exon's hand (574) . 2s. 6d."

As it was the province of the Archbishops and Clergy up
to the middle of the seventeenth century, to issue the
necessary instructions for collections to be made on ordinary
Briefs, it is probable that entries like the following referred
to this class: Wing, Bucks.

"1576. F1 for two breves that came from

the bishoppe of Cawnterbury . iijd " 7

Minchirihampton.

" 1602. for a brieffe directed from my L.

Byshoppe .... iij,,>8

The following were probably granted by Justices of the

I^06 : Woodbury.

" 1575-6. It. to William Herman that had

his howse burned wth fyer
that fel from heven . . iij8 iiijd
To John Winter that had his
Howse burned to withecom
in the More . . . viijd"

• Quoted from the "Early Chancery Proceedings, Richard II. to Henry VI."
by S. E. Bird, f.s.a., in "Some Early Briefs," in Antiquary iii. 168.
7 Arehcsologia, zzzvi. 238. 8 Ibid. xxxv. 438.

322 DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS.

A good example of a patent of alms sanctioned by a
municipal body, is preserved in the Chester City Records : —

"11 October, W. Elizabeth [=1586]. . . Whereas Robart
Huntingeton Baker lately by Casualtie of fyer had parte of his
howse burnte and consumed for recovery of suche his losses
beinge A very poore man hathe exhibited his eupplicacon to this
Assembly to have A gatherings within every Churche and
Chappell within the same Citie And albeit such Maner of gather-
inge is restrained by former orders, yet for releefe of the said
poore man It is nowe ordered that it shalbe Lawfull for him
ether by him selfe or by certen his frendes shall [sic] have A purse
and therewith to repaire to all place and places within the said
Citie excepte within the Churches and Chapells therof to collect
and receive suche some and somes of money As it shall please
the good and God lie of there free wills to bestowe upon the said
poore man towards his losse."9

Another, from the authorities of a small town :

Wilmslow, Cheshire.
"1612. Gyven to a poore man of Knots-
ford that had a certyfycat
from the Townesmen that his
smythy was brenned . . xijd " *

It is probable that the holders of patents of alms were not
permitted to make a "gathering" in churches and chapels,
and which restriction R. Huntington sought, unsuccessfully,
to have removed. Although this is not alluded to in the
majority of entries in parochial records, here is an excep-
tional one :— st Martin>8i Leicester.

"1592-3. Pd to a pore mann that hadd

the queenes brod Seale y* did
not gather in the church . viijd " *

As a rule, a Brief was granted for one year, but if the sum
gathered was inadequate, and especially at a late period, a
new one was issued, and in some few instances a third. In
exceptional cases a longer period was permitted at first ; for
Chard fire (1578), Nantwich fire (1583), and for Tiverton
fire (1612), it was extended to two years, and to seven years
for Bath Church and Hospital.3 The allotted time having
expired, was a sufficient reason for no collection being made,

9 Chester in the Plantagenet and Tudor Reigns, by Rot. Canon Morris
(1894), 358-9.

1 J. P. Earwakeb, East Cheshire, i. 105.

8 Ch. W. Accts. T. North, 135.

• Strype's Life of Abp. Orindal (1823), 358-9 ; Harding's Tiverton, ii
Appx. 21 ; Cheshire Sheaf, i 346.

DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS. 323

although the Brief was read in the Church, as shown in the
singular entry taken from the Parish Eegister of Ormsby
St. Margaret, Norfolk :

"October 19, 1701. I published a Briefe for a fire at Hor-
monden in ye County of Kent, ya loss being above 1000u, and
being after ye expiration of ye time for gathering, there was
nothing given to it." 4

There is no allusion in the early Briefs to the area within
which collections were to be made, but in the reign of Eliza-
beth, although a gathering was permitted " throughout the
Bealme of England" for the Bath Brief of 1579, the area was
usually limited to certain specified shires and towns ; thus,
the Basingstoke fire brief of 1601 was limited to "London
and vij shires."5 Under the Stuarts, with few exceptions
(that for Capt. Whitbourne, in 1622, and the one for Cam-
bridge in 1630, being two of the most notable), the limited
area was the rule, of which the following extract from the
Tiverton Brief of 1612 will sufficiently illustrate. The
" charitable benevolence " was to be restricted to :

"Our counties of Southampton, Wilts, and Dorset, with the
Isle of Wight, and in our cities of Winchester and Salisbury,
with our towns and counties of Pool, Somerset, Devon, Corn-
wall, Gloucester, and Oxon., with the university, and in our cities
of Bristol, Bath and Wells, Exon. and Gloucester . . . and not
elsewhere." 6

In the Domestic State Papers of 1625-6 (vol. xxxv. no. 35)
is a document entitled, " An Abstract of the seuerall Ires
Patents for Collections, graunted betweene the 30th of Oc-
tober 1625, and the 22th of September 1626." They are
eighteen in number, all granted "upon Certific* from the
Judges and Justices of the peace, made at the Assises.1' In
some, the gathering area is extended to twenty-one towns
and counties ; in others, is limited to two. Of the eighteen
collections, only four were authorised to be made in Devon,
and none were for objects connected with this county.

In 1591 thirteen Protections, or Briefs, are recorded to
have been granted,7 eleven for poor-houses, and seven to indi-
viduals (one for losses by sea, and six by fires). In each case
(other than for two individuals belonging to this county,
who had suffered losses by fire) the collection was limited to
two counties. Of the two local examples, one was " for the

4 JV. and Q. 2nd S. ii. 224.
8 Harl. MS. 368, No. 3.

6 C. Harding, Op. tit. ii Appx. 24.

7 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1591-4, vol. ccxL pp. 128, et seq.

324 DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS.

poor-house of St. Catharine's, St. Martin's parish, Exeter . . •
to gather in Dorset and Somerset " ; the other is thus
entered : —

"Protection for the poor-house of Plymton St. Mary, co.
Devon, granted to Rob. Chyvere, guider there, to gather in coe.
Devon and Somerset; certified by Thos. Southcott and Thos.
Bidgeway, justices of peace."

We may fairly assume that a similar protection, licence, or
brief, was, in the early part of Elizabeth's reign, granted
under like certificates, such as in the following local
notices :— Woodbury.

" 1572-3. Itm. p. to a pardoner that

gaythered to saynt Katheryns

yn excetor .... viijrt
"1573-4. to a p[ardoner] yfc gathered to

the hosptall of plimtone . xijd
to the pore howse in excetor . riijd
to the pore howse of totnes . xijd
to the pore howse of toryntone . xijd
" 1574-5. to the power osspytall of Teng-

mouthe . . . . vjd
to the power osspytall of

pylton .... viijd

to the power howse of Saint

Anne without eastgate in

exff8 viijdw

A " Docquet of Bills that .... passed the Great Seal in
1578-9 (21 Eliz.)," includes eleven protections for gathering
in various counties (limited to two in each), five being
repeated for the same objects in 1591, but in other counties
than those specified in the latter. The following is the only
Devon example : —

" Protection for the Poor House of St. Anne in Exeter, granted
to Christopher Streamer, proctor, to gather in Cornwall and
Devon."9

In his account of the Cambridge Brief of 1630, Mr. Bird
remarked, "it appears to be the earliest specimen of a
printed Brief on record,"1 a belief that was shared by Mr.

8 The hospitals were for lepers, and Mr. Brooking Rowe informs me, that
the Plympton one was occupied by that class down to the middle of the last
century. In the Tavistock Records is the item, under 1573-4 : —

" ffor the lazar howse of pylton .... iiijd"

(30) Cf. Plymouth Municipal Records (1588-9) 129.
Col. MSS. Hatfield House, pt ii. (1888) 237, 246, 248.
Antiquary, iii. 218.

DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS. 325

Walford (17). Probably it was the earliest one that came
tinder his notice, but that they had been issued in the printed
form, far back in the previous century, is undoubted. The
Registers of the Stationers* Co. contain numerous entries
relating to them, of which this is the earliest : —

" 1578. iiy *° Die Augusti, Thomas Wood-
cock, Reseyued of him for
printinge a brief . . . iiijd " 2

Many others are recorded in them during the reigns of
Elizabeth and of James I., and copies of printed Briefs in the
reign of the latter will be described in a later part of this
paper. Here is an example from a parochial record : —

Minchinhampton.

" 1604. to Gregory (apparitor) for a breffe

in printe .... iiijd " 8

We may, however, go back to a much earlier date. In
Staveley's History of Churches in England (1773), 99-101,
there is an account of a Brief granted in 1511 to the Prior
and Convent of Kirkby Beler, in Leicestershire, to enable
them to obtain money for repairing their buildings, " a grant
of Indulgence " being " obtained of Pope Leo the Tenth" and
a letter patent " under the Broad Seal " from Henry VIII. ;
" one of which Briefs" remarks Staveley, " I have now in my
Hands ; it is one large Sheet of Paper Printed, on the Top
thereof, the Pictures of St. Paul and St. Peter, with the
Popes Arms on the right Hand, and the Kings Arms on the
left" Two long extracts are then given.4

Briefs (and the letters patent of which they were copies)
may almost be regarded as one of the offsprings of the
^Reformation, for, although they were not altogether unknown
before that period, they cannot be said to have flourished
until the reign of Elizabeth (when the term "Brief" was
first used). Moreover, it must be borne in mind that they
were, to a great extent, the substitute for the measures
adopted by the Clergy of the old form of religion, to obtain the

f Ed. Arbkb, iii 384. ' Archccologia, xxxv. 439.

4 The Pope must have been Julius II., as Leo X. was not elected till
March 11, 1513. That 1511 was the year, is corroborated by the following
extract from Letters, &c., Hen. VIII. l 1504-1514, p. 285 :—

" 1511 Oct 8. For the Prior and Convent of St Peter and St. Paul of
Kirkeby on Wrethik, co. Leic, dioc. Line.

"Protection, and licence to declare indulgences and collect alms and
donations for the monastery, being in great decay, and the buildings belong-
ing to it having been destroyed by fire. Tutbury Castle, 28 Aug. 3 Hen.

vnLw

326 .DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS.

charitable aid of the public in behalf of objects of all kinds.
The Registers of the Bishops of Exeter, record many grants
of indulgences to those, who rendered pecuniary assistance
on such occasions. That of Bp. Bronescombe (1257-1280)
contains several6 Many are enumerated in that of Bp.
Stafford, to those who aided in works connected with this
county, such as the reconstruction of Holne and Woodford
Bridges, the repair of Buckland Brewer Church, the
reconstruction of roads in the vicinity of Plymouth, &c.6
In 1449 a large part of the town of Yeovil was destroyed by
fire, and " forty days of indulgence were granted to charitable
contributors on this occasion."7 But simultaneously with
the assistance derived through the Clergy, aids from private
sources, grants out of county, municipal and other public
funds, levies on parishes, &c, were common at all periods of
our history, even after the introduction of Briefs, and without
their expensive machinery and delay in execution.

The subject is, however, too wide to enter upon here.
Two varieties, however, may be noticed. Gifts were made
to extra-parochial individuals out of the parish funds by
general consent, where the case was known to be an
exceptionally deserving one, and without needing a brief
or a certificate of any kind, of which this is probably an
example : Morton, Derbyshire.

"1634. Item given to a poore woman of

Duffield upon Trenitie Sunday
at the Chapel], by the consent
of the p'shners there, which
had her house burnt away . 28."8

The Churchwardens' Accounts (MS.) of St. Martin-in-the-
Fields, London, contain, from about 1614, a number of entries
annually, of sums given to poor travellers, to those who had
suffered losses by fire, &c, u out of the moneys collected and
gathered at the Monethly Comunions." Here are two items
relating to this county :

"1610-1. A poore woman of plimmouth

that had two children burnde
[sic] • . . . ijB

1613-4. to Thomas Sant travelling to

Plymmouth . . . vjd"

8 E<i. Preb. Randolph, 36-7.

6 Ibid. 42, 133, 294, 371. There is a long list in the Devon Churchman,
II. 1, 2. Cf. D. A. xxii. 257.

7 Quoted from Bp. Bekynton's Register, in Collinson's Hist, of Somerset,
iii. 204. 8 Rdiquary, xxv. 23.

DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS. 327

The following is copied from the same Accounts :

"1603-5. Itm paid to a poore man that

gathered for fire by wch meanes
we avoyded the collection in
the Church . . . ij«"

Sometimes the amount collected in the Church, was
supplemented by a grant out of the Church fund.

"1634. Item given by the consent of the

parish to a breefe for the
ministry of the Palatine, to
make it up 5s. . .Is. 3d." fl

Perhaps the most remarkable substitute for a Brief is
recorded in Cox's Churches of Derbyshire, iv. 83. Funds
being required to complete the tower of All Saints' Church,
Derby, much assistance was obtained through the medium
of Church Ales in various parts of the county.1

We now pass on to describe Briefs in chronological order,
and it will be convenient to do so under each separate reign,
from the sixteenth century to the period of the Eestoration,
but not beyond, and to notice them under three different
headings.

L Briefs for objects connected directly with Devonshire,
whether the collections were made in this or in other counties;
and as very little is known of them prior to the middle
of the seventeenth century, it is intended to give as full
details as possible.

IL Briefs for collections within the county, for out-county
purposes.

III. Miscellaneous Briefs.

The earliest mentioned in a list given by Mr. Walford
(7-11) is "in connection with the Redemption of Christian
Captives," under date 1206, a subject which has been the
occasion of a greater number of collections throughout this
country, in each succeeding century to the present one, than
any other that can be named. Down to the reign of
Elizabeth he enumerates very few (less than ten), the
majority of them being patents of alms.

Henry VIII. The important one of Kirkby Beler, issued
in 1511 — important in the history of printed Briefs — has
already received notice.

9 Vestry Book of Pittington, Durham (Surt Soc. 1888), 98.
1 One example will suffice to show the large sums gathered in this
manner:— 1532. "The Aell at Brayllsford.

Made by Edmund Torner, Ric. plesley, whoos sm mownteth to
xiu. iijs. iiijd. The sm spended there xiiij*. v*1."

328 DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS.

The only other in this reign possessing local interest,
although, strictly speaking, it does not properly belong to
this county, was issued for the repair of Lyme Cobb, in
1545. Its site being close to the Devonshire boundary,
was of especial importance to the seafaring population of
this county, especially during the war with France, then in
progress. It was this, probably, that caused the King, on
June 23, 1545, to issue a Brief for obtaining contributions in
aid of the repair, or more probably of the reconstruction, of
the Lyme haven, whose origin dated back to about the 13th
century. The Archives of the Town contain a letter from
the Mayor (" John Tanner al Mopaige ") of that year, record-
ing that " The Kynges grace . . . hath graunted unto us his
gracious licence under the great seale for the terme of one
yere, to send into divers shires of this his reyelme of
England, our lawfull proctoures and messengers to collect
and gather the devocion of well-disposed people," &c.2

Elizabeth. The reigns of Edw. VI. and of Mary, yield
us no information on this subject, but with that of Elizabeth
it is re-entered upon. As in her father's time, the construc-
tion of havens and their efficient repair was assisted by
collections on Briefs and other aids during her time.8

About 1574 or 1575, letters patent were issued for a
general gathering to be made on Briefs throughout England,
for the re-construction of a haven at the mouth of the Axe
river in this county. From time immemorial a large and
important one had existed there; but prior to the commence-
ment of the sixteenth century it had gradually silted up, fuid
the river entrance had become narrowed by the extension of
the pebble-ridge. In his Itinerary, written between 1534
and 1543, Leland gives the following account: —

"Ther hath beene a very notable Haven at Seton; but now
ther lyith betwen the 2 Pointes of the old Haven a
mighty Rigge and Barre of pible Stones in the very
Mouth of it . . . The Town of Seton is now but a meane
Thing, inhabited with Fischar Men. it hath bene far
larger when the Haven was good . . .

3 Roberts' Social History (1856), 64. Henry's attention to the defences of
the sea-coast had been an early feature of his reign, for in 1512-3 was passed
"An acte concerning makyng of bulwarkes on the sea-side," in which
"every landyng-place," or places where "the frenchemen oure auncient
ennemies" are likely to land, are to be protected by "bulwarkes, braies,
walls, diches, and al other fortificacions, from Plymmouth westward to the
landes end," as well as " by the sea costes Estward." These were directed to
be constructed at the expense of the various counties, in public or private
grounds without compensation, and by forced labour.

8 Vide Remarks on a new haven for Chester ■, by Rev. Canon Morris, op. cil.
460-2.

DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS. 329

The Men of Seton began of late Day[es] to stake and to make
a mayne Waulle withyn the Haven to have divertid the
Course of Ax Ryver . . . But this Purpose cam not to
effect."4

The following extracts from parochial records, will show
that, in the 16th century, collections were made all over the
country, and probably a very large amount of money was
obtained towards its restoration.

St. Michael, Cornhill (Vestry Book).

"1575, June 29. Thomas Garrett and

John Bowltynge to gather
the collectyon ffbr a Haven
to be byldedd in the weste
countrye."6

Eltham, Kent.

"1575. paid for makinge the bookes of

the collections toward the
makinge of Colliton haven,
and for carying the said
bokes two severall days to
London . . . ij*"6

St. Michael's, Bishop's Startford.

" 1578. pd for ye making of ij by lis In-
dented one for Collington
haven and j for Thomas
Browne .... viijd"7

Cvlworthy Northamptonshire.

" 1576. It. payd for the caryage of the

money for Collyngton haven

to Northampton . . iiijd

1580. It. for a leter that was brought

from Collyngtone aven . . ijd
1583. Itm. received of ye collection

money of Colliton haven . ys ijd " 8

Ashburton.

" 1578-9. to the mayntenance of Colyton

haven .... ij8" 9

Wardington, Oxford (Par. Keg.).

" Anno Dni 1576 the first yeare. A true note and certificate
of suche men dwelling wth in ye towens of Werdenton, Williams-

« Ed. of 1769, Hi. 71-2.

• Ch. W. Accts. &c A. J. Waterlow, 238.

• Archceologia, xxxiv. 61.

1 Ch. W. Accts. J. L. Glasscock (1882), 59.
» MS. 9 Ch. W. Accts. 48.

vol. xxvu. £

330 DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS.

cote and Cowton p] as have geven their money towardes ye
repairynge of Collington haven in Devonshire. Ano Kegine
Elizabeth Decimo Octavo.

The money geven the 27 of May 1576. The first yeare payd
Werdenton. Sume totalis is . ix«

The second yeare for Collyngton heaven in Devonshire Ano
Regine Elizabeth decimo novo.

ye monye geven ye xxvitb daie of May 1577 ano

Sunle totalis is vjs

The third yeare for collingto haven in Devonshire in ye xi
yeare of Elizabeth.

the money geven ye xix day of October Ano dni 1578

Same totalis iiij8 vd for writing ijd
The fourth yeare Ano dni 1579 ye xxi** yeare — " [sic]

The first three years are certified by "Sr Aleyn Towe,
curat," and the Churchwardens.1

In connection with this matter, the following is of too
interesting a character to be omitted : —

" 1576. The Queen made use of our Archbishop [E. Grindal]
also in one particular more this year. Colliton haven at Seton in
the county of Devon wanted repair. The Queen had sent her
letters to Matthew [Parker], late Archbishop of Canterbury [he
died on May 17, 1575], for that purpose, who gave a mandate
to the Bishops and others within his province to have contribu-
tions made severally within their dioceses. And the sums of
money so raised were to be delivered to Thomas Weston and
William Morris, merchants, of London, appointed by her Majesty's
letters patents to be general receivers. These receivers were
charged to have received greater sums than they gave in by
their particular accounts. To find out the truth whereof, and
that such frauds of charity might not go undiscovered, the Lords
sent to this our Archbishop, to despatch his letters to all the
Bishops, that forthwith they send notes of all such sums of money
as had been severally collected, and delivered into the hands of the
said Weston and Morris. And this the Archbishop accordingly
did." 2

This is the earliest notice yet found, of any suggested fraud
practised by the collectors of Brief money.

The continuation of these contributions over so many suc-
cessive years, points out the importance that was attached

1 My especial thanks are due to Sir H. Dryden, Bart., of Canons Ash by ;
the Rev. Dr. Wood, of Cropredy, near Leamington ; and the Rev. C. Hul,
of Cul worth, near Banbury, for extracts from parish records, and other
information, respecting Colyton Haven.

2 Life of Archbishop Grinded, by J. Strype (1821), 838, 889.

DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS. 331

to this haven. The foregoing extracts show that they
extended to 1583, and probably longer. Within this period,
Drake had circumnavigated the globe, the enmity of Spain
had been gradually increasing, and " in 1584 the first vessels
of an armada which was destined for the conquest of England
began to gather in the Tagus." 8

The following requires mention here, whether it relates to
Colyton or to some other haven : —

St. Man/8, Heading.

" 1589-90 It'm payed to bonamy for carry-

inge of the mony to Oxford
gathered for the haven towne iiijd.w (70.) 4

It is uncertain whether the work at the haven prosecuted
by Thomas Erie, Esq., and his son, Sir Walter, as recorded
by Sir W. Pole, refers to the same undertaking or not, but
there can be little doubt that this author refers to it in the
following passage : —

" Seaton . . . About lx yeeres past theire was a colleccion
over England, by authority, to collect moneys for the makinge
of an haven in this place, but the money was converted to
worse use." fi

The estuaries of the rivers Axe, Sid, and Otter at one time
formed natural harbours, and were much used by shipping,
but the enormous amount of earth, gravel, etc., brought down
from the land traversed by them, and deposited in their beds,
have gradually rendered them incapable of being similarly
employed at the present date.

The learned Nathanael Carpenter, a Devonian, and one of
the leading scientific men of his day, thus alludes to the

* J. R. Green, Hist, of Bag. People, ii. 433.

4 That other havens were receiving attention about this period, is shown

by the following item in the Accounts of the Stationers' Co. : —

"Receaued this yeere of Clement Draper and Henri

Clitheroe in parte of paiemente of Tenne

poundes heretofore Lente towarde the re-

paireinge of Yarmouth Haven, ye somuie

OI ....*• «1 •

(Ed. Arber, i. 489.)

• Devonshire, 123, 139-40. Risdon (Survey of Devonshire, 1714, ii. 59)
remarks : — " Of which Work there remaineth no Monument, only a remem-
brance of such a Place among Strangers that know not where it stands."
The attempt of the Erles may have been made after the earlier one had been
abandoned. Of the Erie family and their labours, vide Rogers' Memorials
of the West, 379-81. It is singular that there is no allusion in Pulman's
Book of the Agse to the Brief- Collections.

z 2

332 DEVONSHIRE B KIEFS.

silting-up of the mouths of the rivers of Devon in the six*
teenth century :

" By the heaping up of sand and earthly nihhish, the mouthes
of great Riuers are in time choaked vp . . . and for present
instance need to goe no farther then diuerse Townes in Deuon,
which (according to the Relation of ancient men) haue heretofore
heen faire hauens, able to receiuo great ships, to which notwith-
standing at this time a small boat cannot arriue except in a full
Tide."6

The next Brief relating to Devonshire is thus entered in
the Woodbury Accounts :

" 1583-4. Ite. by the Justes Comaunde-

ment to the Repearinge
Agayne of the howses y*
were burned at Samford . x8 "

We have evidence that this was Sampford Peverell, near
Tiverton. At first sight, it would appear as though it were
an example of a benevolence, directed to be gathered
throughout the county, by an order of Justices of the Peace.
Unfortunately, in this instance, the County Records afford us
no information, as they do not date farther back than 1592.7

Considerable light is, however, thrown upon it, by the
account of a great fire, which occurred shortly before at
Nantwich, in Cheshire (Dec. 10, 1583), when the greater
part of the town was consumed. A Brief was issued on
March 11, 1584, and a sum of £3224 6s. 9£d. was obtained.8
A sum of £20 16s. 7d. was contributed by the Clergy of the
diocese of Exeter, and a letter (of which the following is a
transcript) was sent by Bp. Woolton to Sir F. Walsingham,
explanatory of the reason why the amount was not greater,
the Clergy having had so recently to contribute to the losses
by fire at Sampford : —

" After my hartie commendacons, According vnto the tenor of
Ires sent vnto me from the lies of her Ma*6- most honourable
pry vie counsaile of the last of Marche and deliuered me aboute
ye last of Aprill then followinge I appointed vr**1 as muche
expedition as I mighte learned and honeste men to collecte the
deuocon of all the Clergie wthin my Dioces for the relief of

6 Geographic (1635), bk. 2, ch. 10, p. 177.

7 Such orders were, however, made by them, vide p. 20 of Mr. Hamilton's
work. Here is an example from another county : —

Bere Regis, Dorset. " In 1634, an order of sessions passed that this town,
lately consumed by fire, should receive 50/ out of the county stock, and a
petition for a brief was ordered, the loss being 7000/." (Hutchins' Hist, oj
Dorset, 1861, i. 158).

8 Hall's History of Nantwich (1883), 104- 9 ; Cheshire Sheaf t L 845-8.

DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS. 333

Namptwiche. And hauing vsed persuasions and all other good
Meanes for the better speding therof cannot bringe the same to
that proporcon wch I earnestlie wished theye pretending manie
excuses as namelie theire pouertie and like colleccons proposed
unto them for the soucourringe of Sampforde Peuerell latelie
burnte : a Borowe Towne in Devon. I assure yor Lo. I haue
done my beste in expedicon and in diligence aboute the same.
Presentlie I haue sent by a trustie Messenger John Dunscombe
draper of London to be deliuered to the handes of Thomas
Alderseye and Thomas Braseye men nomynated for that purpose
in the said Ires. The some of xx1 xvj8 vijd and if I can gather
any more (wch I feare will not be niuche) I will also send it.
Vnderncath is specified from whome this some hath bene receyued.
And so I comend you to the blessed proteccon of Almightie
god.
Exeter the xvijth of Julie 1584.

Yor Lo. assured f rende

John Exon.

Imprimis of the Buishoppe of Exon .
Item ye Deane and chaptre there cosisting

of 12 Canons residensarics
Item of the Clergie wfchin Tharchdeaconrie

of Exeter

Item of the Clergie wthin Tharchdeaconrye

of Tottones ,

Item of the Clergie wthin Tharchdeaconrye

of Barum

Item of the Clergie wthin Tharchdeacorye

of Cornwall .....

Sunia total xx1 xvj8 vijd

[Addressed] To the righte honourable my good frende Sr
ffraunces Walsingham Knighte her Ma*68 Principall Secre
tary deliuer theise."9

Sir William Courtenay and others, Justices of Devonshire,
contributed £35 to the Nantwich fund.1 The Bishop's letter
shows that the money gathered for Sampford was, upon a
Brief, equally with that of Nantwich.

On several occasions Tiverton suffered from the effects of
fire. One of the most severe outbreaks occurred in April 9,
1598, when, according to particulars related in TJie true
lamentable discourse of the burning of Teverton, a pamphlet
published in the same year,2 "400 houses, with all the
Money and goods that was therein: and Fyftie persons

• S. P. Dom. Eliz. clxxii. No. 26.

1 Ibid. vol. clxxiii. No. 67.

8 Reprinted at length in Harding's Hist, of Tiverton, ii. appx. 7-16. .

xl"

liij'

.... 1
llljd

iij1 v*

vj*

lvij"

ixd

334 DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS.

[were] burnt aliue." According to Dunsford,8 the number
who perished was 33 (all of whose names are recorded in the
Parish Register), and the property destroyed was valued at
£150,000. On July 2, the Queen issued letters patent
directing collections to be made for the inhabitants.4
The following local example may be noticed here : —

Tavistock.

"1573-4. 'One of Wythecomb* had 4d his house being
brent." •

By collections obtained through the medium of Briefs, the
English Protestants were enabled to render material assist-
ance to their co-religionists in foreign countries, or to those
who had sought a refuge in England. Such charitable aid in
favour of those who had been persecuted and impoverished,
was a new feature in the reign of Elizabeth, and met with
general support The earliest notice yet found is the follow-
ing, and was occasioned by the establishment of the
Inquisition in Flanders by Philip II. of Spain, and by the
Huguenot troubles in France, four years prior to the massacre
of St. Bartholomew : —

1568. Feb. 28. Bp. of Lincoln and others, to Sir W. Cecill,
" Have issued letters for collections for relief of those persons
who have fled out of France and Flanders to avoid persecu-
tion for religion."6

At a later date, the sympathy and practical support of the
English was extended to Geneva. It was within living
memory, that it had been the city of refuge to many of the
Reformed faith during the troublous times of Queen Mary ;
it was the stronghold of Calvinism ; and had been " brought
into great extremity and need of relief," owing to the
intrigues and the repeated attempts of the Duke of Savoy,
in 1581 and 1582, to gain possession of the place, and
if successful, it was felt that it implied a return to the
old religious forms. A letter from the Privy Council, on
January 29, 1583, to the Archbishop of Canterbury, directed
that contributions should be gathered throughout his diocese,
for the benefit of the inhabitants of Geneva.7

8 Hist. Mem. of Tiverton (1790) 179.

4 Strype's Life of Whitgift (1822), ii. 404-5.

5 Records, 30. 6 Cal. S. P. Dom. (1547-80), vol. xlvi. No. 37.

7 A transcript of the Letter of the Privy Council, taken from Earl. MS.
787, No. 101, will be found in Ellis's Letters Illustrative of English His-
tory, 2nd S. ii. 83-5. Another, but imperfect copy, with one of the circular
letters of the Abn. of Canterbury [Grindal], and much other. information
on the same subject, are printed in Strype's Life of Grindal (1821),
412 420.

DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS. 335

The amount obtained in Devonshire is thus recorded
by Dr. Oliver, in his short memoir of John Woolton,
Bishop of Exeter: —

"During his episcopacy, viz. in 1581 [should be 1583], a
collection was made in Exeter for the relief of Geneva, to the
amount of 591. 6$. Sd. From the clergy of the diocese of
Exeter, 144/. 3*. 2d. Total, 203/. 9s. lOd. wa3 received: both
sums were forwarded by Bishop Woolton to the Archbishop
of Canterbury, to be remitted to Geneva, and duly acknowledged,
as the ' Act Book ' shows. " 8

The following is an example of the gatherings made
in this county :- chudleigh.

" 1583. Paid to Mr. Richard Wichalse for Geneveye —
1. 3. 4"9

The Plymouth Municipal Records contain these entries : —

"1582-3. Itm paide towarde the helpe of

Geneva this yere . . . xiiij1 n

" 1589-90. 6s. paid to Minterne for a benevolence graunted for

Geneva of the Clergie of this pishe." *

In addition to those already noted, the following is the
only other entry yet found of a collection made in a Devon-
shire church during this reign : —

Woodbury.

"1593-4. pd. to one y* gathered to a

towne called Marelbowre
[Marlborough] . . . iij8 iiijd"

It is certain that many Briefs were issued during the
reign of Elizabeth, both in Devonshire, as well as in the
country generally: although neither the State papers nor
parochial records yield much direct evidence. When we
turn to the Registers of the Stationers' Co., we find some
highly important information on this subject, and to which
attention does not appear to have been hitherto directed.

8 Bishops of Exeter, 141 ; and collated with the entry in the Bishop's Act
Book.

9 Letters, &c. by Dr. F. Halle (1851), 96.

1 Ed. R. N. Worth (1893), 124, 130. Several references will be found in
Col. S. P. Dora., between 1583 and 1590. Here is one :— " 1583, June (?).
The contribution of the Clergy and Laity, within the Diocese of Canterbury,
towards the relief of the town of Geneva ; specifying the names of the con-
tributors, and the amount given by each." {Ibid. vol. clzi. No. 21.) Parti-
culars of the sums gathered in Lyme Regis, are given in Roberts's Social
History, 250.

336 DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS.

All the entries of the sixteenth century (except that of
1578, already quoted) are here given in extenso: —

"1587. Die Saturn [a] e. xxviij. January. Thomas Purfoote.
Allowed vnto Thomas Purfoote the ymprintinge of the
Briefes of all letters Patentes to be graunted tmder the great e
seale of England for gatheringe by reason of casualty es and
losses happenynge as well by sea as by land. The printinge
of whiche Briefes is aucthorised to the said Thomas vnder
the Lord Archebyshoppe of Canterbury e his hand and bothe
ye wardens, viz., master Byshop and master Denham. iiijd

"1590. xj° Decembris. Thomas Purfoote. Entred vnto him for
his Copies, vnder th[e hlandes of the Bisshopp of
London, the maister and Wardens, tlie Abstractes and
Copies of all such Briefes and Leitres TestymoniaU as tlie
saide Bisshopp shall here after subscrybe or sealle for the
gathering of the devosions of her rnaiesties lovinge sub-
jectes, for the relief of anye person or persons that shall
happen to fall in decaye by losses or casualties, [vj4 in-
serted and then deleted.]

" 1590. 25to Junij. Robert Robinson. Yt is agreed that he shall
paye ij8 for a fine : for printing a brief Disorderlye. ij' paid."
[i.e., for printing a brief without a licence.2]

We cannot doubt that to many of the objects for which
these Briefs were circulated, Devonshire was called upon to
contribute her share, especially towards any of a national
character, such as the repairs of S. Paul's Cathedral in 1561
and 1584 An Order of the Privy Council (dated June 26,
1563) to the Archbishop of Canterbury, for him to levy
Contributions "for the reparations needful to 'Paule's
Church/" is entered in Index to MS. Vols, in the Library
of Dawson Turner (1851), 161.

Dean Milman states "there were collections in every
diocese, and gives many particulars relating to the various
donations.3

The following refers to the second date : —

S. Christopher '«, London.

" 1583-4. Payde for Certaine Articles Rd.

at Christchurch concerning
the Collectionn for Powles
with the Aunswer of them
and the Ordenary Articles . xvjV 4

3 Ed. Arber, iii. 463, 569, 862.

B Annals of S. Paul's Cath. (1569), 282.

4 Churchwardens* Accounts, Ed. E. Freshfield (1885), 14.

DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS. 337

Towards the effects of the great fire at Chard, circ. 1577,
and for the " building of a church and hospital " at Bath in
1579, Briefs were issued, extended in the former to two, and
in the latter to seven years — Devonshire, no doubt, con-
tributed to each.5 "Tenne yeres" later, the Bath authorities,
in a petition to the Queen, stated " there was collected . . .
the some of xij or xiijc11, wherof thone halfe was spent in
gathering of the said some/1 and the remainder being
insufficient, they asked her Majesty to detain all the spiritual
preferments in her hands "but one halfe yere longer towardes
the accomplishment of so famous a worke " !6 Probably this
was not acceded to.

That the collection of Briefs in this reign was very costly,
either from mismanagement or from some other cause, is
proved by the experience of the Bath one, as well as of
that of Basingstoke, for on the occasion of a great fire in the
latter town on Sept. 16, 1601, "the Queene graunted Lycens
vnder the greate Seale to gather the Charytp of well-disposed
Persons in London, and vij Shires, whereof London was most
bountyfull and lyberall : but by the badd Consiences of the
Collectors litle benifitt came to the Partyes most Damnifyed
by that fyre." 7 We have evidence that Devonshire was one
of the " vij Shires," in the following extract from the Order
Book in the County Becords : —

"At the Chapter House (Exeter Cathedral) the 7th October,
1602, Mr. Sparry e for the south division, Mr. Thomas Browne
and Mr. Anth. Copleetone for the north division, and Mr. John
Drake, Mr. William Poole, and Mr. Wm. Walrond for the east
division, are contented to take notyce and informacon of all the
money collected in every parish for the relieff of Bazingstoke,
latelie damnified by fier, and to certifie the same at the next
Sessions." 8

On April 6th, 1580 (repeated on May 1st), a great wave
of earthquake passed across England, and gave rise to many
pamphlets and ballads.9 Mr. Walford (70) includes the
following in his list of Briefs :

" 1580. In the Parish Register of Ecclesfield (S. Yorks.), this
year, there is an entry : ' For ye bookes of ye earthquake.
xiiijd.' "

* Stbypk's Life of Q rinded, 358-9. « Harl MS., 368, 4. * Ibid, 368, 3.

8 Communicated by Mr. A. H. A. Hamilton, to Baioent and Millard's
Hist, of Basingstoke (1889), 78-9.

8 An interesting account of it is related by Stow (Annates, 687). It
formed the subject of twelve pamphlets and four ballads, licensed by
the Stationers' Co. How eagerly the ballad writers of the day seized
upon any unusual occurrence is shown by the circumstance, that on the

338 DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS.

The inventory list of St. Oswald, Durham, in 1605,
includes " the booke of the earthquake."1

James I. — Up to the time of the accession of James I.,
there appears to have been no settled form of letter patent,
warrant, or licence, under which authority was given to
seek the aid of the charitably disposed, in favour of the
specific object named. Although at first issued under the direct
command of Royalty, it assumed, in the reign of Elizabeth,
the form of a letter from the Privy Council, and signed by
all the members present (e.g., Nantwich Brief, 1584, Geneva
Brief, 1583) ; but with the advent of James an alteration
was made, and the general form then commenced has been
continued with but little interruption to the present century.
(In some few instances, of which the Whitbourne brief of
1622 was one, a letter of the Privy Council was substituted.)
This form recorded that the letter patent was issued by
command of the reigning Sovereign. (Vide the fac-simile
of brief of 1640, post.)

Mr. Walford (5, 6) was of opinion that it was "during
the reign of Charles I. that the sole prerogative of authorizing
the issuing of Briefs was assumed by the Crown," but there
is a greater probability that it was the act of James I.,
simultaneously with the altered form of licence, and that
it was under him that these letters patent first became " a
prolific source of Crown revenue."

There are several Devonshire Briefs to notice as being
granted in his reign. In the Hartland Accounts is the
following item :

" 1606-7. Given towards the building of

the Steeple of St. Sidwell's
neere Exon. . . . iij* iiij*1 ** (573).

Dr. Oliver makes no allusion to this, but Izacke has this
entry respecting it :

day after the earthquake (Ap. 7) there was licensed, "a godly newe ballat
moving us to repent by ye example of ye e[a]rthqnake happened in London
ye. 6. of April! 1580." Another was entitled, "quake, quake. y* is time
to quake when towers and townes and all Doo shake." (Ed. Arber, ii.
369-373.)

1 Ch. W. Accounts of PiUingion, kc (Surtees Soc. (1888), 141.)
It is noteworthy that in a letter issued by the Queen in 1580, urging
liberal contributions to some of "the relligion in the Towne of Mont-
pellier," this earthquake is alluded to as " an extraordinary admonition and
suche as dothe foretell some greeuous and extraordinary punishment, &c."
{S. P. Dom. vol. cxxxviii. No. 37.) The Devonian, N. Carpenter,
remarked, " an earthquake hath no small consideration, being oftentimes
a meanes which God vseth to shew some great and extraordinary judgment."
(Geographic (1635), bk. 2, ch. 12, p. 198)

DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS. 339

" 1605. A considerable sum of money was raised, as a
voluntary contribution made by the Inhabitants hereof towards
the erecting of St. Sydwel's Tower."2

Although not alluded to in County Histories, a very ex-
tensive fire took place at Cullompton in 1602, thus recorded
in Mr. Hamilton's work :

"In October, 1602, the justices met to take measures for
the relief of the inhabitants of Cullompton, whose loss by fire
was estimated at 8000/. For their immediate necessities the sum
of 50/. was voted out of the hospital money, and the justices
present individually advanced certain small sums by way of loan,
to be repaid at the next sessions. Only two advanced 5Z., the rest
only 40*" (20.)

This was simply to relieve the immediate necessities of
those who had been burnt out. The rebuilding of the
place was evidently assisted by collections on one or more
Briefs, as the following point out :

Hartland.

1606-7 Geven towards the re-edifying

of Collompton . . . xvd (573.)

Morton, Derby.

" 1611 (?) Towards the buildinge of the

Market Towne of Collampton
in Devonshire being burned
by fire ... . Is."8

On Aug. 5, 1612, Tiverton was again the scene of a great
fire, which destroyed the greater part of the town, with goods
and merchandise to the value of £200,000. A full account
of it, in pamphlet form, with a woodcut of the fire on the
title-page, was published in the same year, under the title of
Wofvll Newts, from the, West-parts of England, Being the
Lamentable Burning of the Towne of Teverton, &c* As also
after the fire of 1598, a ballad was issued by the printer.
The loss must have been very keenly felt by the inhabitants,
as they could barely have recovered from the effects of the great
fire that had taken place fourteen years before. An appeal
'was made to the King by the inhabitants, as well as by the
County Justices, and on Nov. 9 of the same year he directed
a letter patent to be issued, for collections to be made upon
Briefs " in our counties of Southampton, Wilts, and Dorset,
with the Isle of Wight, and in our cities of Winchester and

2 Antiq. of Exeter (1677) 143.

* Reliquary, xvi. 22-3.

4 Reprinted by Harding, ii. appx. 22-32.

340 DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS.

Salisbury, with our towns and counties of Pool, Somerset,
Devon, Cornwall, Gloucester, and Oxon, with the University,
and in our cities of Bristol, Bath and Wells, Exon and
Gloucester."

The Brief of 1612 (from which this extract is made), is
given in extenso in the works of Dunsford (408-10) and
Harding (ii. Appx. 18-21), and is the earliest example yet
found of the new form, that was first employed in the reign
of James I.6

No entry has yet been found, in any of the parochial
accounts that have been examined, of collections made on
account of this fire.6

One of the most remarkable and unique uses which a brief
had to serve as an instrument for obtaining the contributions
of the public, formed a singular episode in the life of Capt.
K. Whitbourne, of Exmouth, in 1622. Born in Exmouth,
or in the adjoining parish of Withecombe, he comes first
under notice in 1583, when he and Sir Humphrey Gilbert
were in Newfoundland together, the latter " as the Queen's
representative, and Whitbourne, as a common sailor." 7 His
circumstances must have improved very rapidly, as, accord-
ing to his own account, he served under Lord Howard, as
captain of his own ship, in the attack on the Spanish
Armada in 1588. In 1615 he was sent by the Admiralty
to Newfoundland, to hold a Court there, to enquire into
abuses, &c, and returning to England he published a work, in
1620, bearing the following title : —

"A Disco vree and Discovery of New-found-land, with many
reasons to proove how worthy and beneficiall a Plantation may
there be made, after a far better manner than now it is. Together
with the Laying open of Certaine Enormities and abuses com-
mitted by some that trade to that Countrey, and the meanes
laide downe for reformation thereof. Written by Captaine

* In The Practice of Piety, by Lewis Bayley, Bp. of Bangor (one of the
most popular works of its class ever published, the 59th edit, having
appeared in 1735), the Tiverton fires of 1598 and 1612 are recorded as
"examples of God's Judgments ... for their horrible prophanation of
the Lord's-day, occasioned, chiefly, by their Market on the day following."
(55th Ed. 1723,247.) An anecdote is related by L' Est range/ that on the
occasion of another fire, a Brief having been procured, " and a Devonshire
man collector, the very memorie of the probable occasion of the former
flames cooloth the charitie of many that remembered the storie, and was
objected to the collector, who replyed that ( there was no truth in it, and The
Practice of Pietie had done them much wrong' — which words, bearing a
double sense, occasion 'd much laughter.0 (Anecdotes and Traditions, Ed. by
W. J. Thoms. Camd. Soc 1839, 60 )

6 Tiverton was aided in other ways, vide Hamilton's work, 90.

* D. W. Prowse, HisL of Newfoundland (1895), 62.

DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS. 341

Whithourne of Exmouth, in the County of Devon, and published
by Authority. Imprinted at London by Felix Kyngston, for
William Barret. 1620."

Other editions, published in 1622 and 1623, are in the
British Museum Library. The original edition (1620) of
the work, in the same collection, contains copies, printed on
paper of the same size as that of the volume, in which they
appear to be subsequent insertions, of a letter of the Privy
Council, dated June 30, 1621, and one written by direction
of the King "at Theobalds, the 12 of Aprill 1622." (They
are included in the edition of 1623, but not in that of 1622.)
There is also inserted in it a circular letter, printed as a
broadside, of the Bishop of London ; with the date of Sept
16, 1622.

Whitbourne's work was licensed for printing on April 26,
1620, the author's name appearing as " Whitmore," and this
name is repeated on April 3, 1625.8 Notwithstanding the
date of this license and that on the title-page being 1620,
the work was, apparently, not issued till 1622, when the
letters of the King and of the Privy Council were added, as
well as the letter of Dedication to the King, commencing,
"Most Dread Soveraigne," as the following extract will
show : —

" The following discourse . . . was presented vnto your
Maiestie at Huntingdon in October last ; since which time, it hath
pleased such of the Lords of your Maiesties most Honourable
Priuy Councell, at Whitehall, the 24 of July last then present, to
give mee incouragement with their good approbation thereunto ;
and ordered, that the booke should be printed . . . to be re-
commended to the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, and the rest
of the Lords Bishops, to be distributed to the seuerall Parishes of
your Maiesties Kingdome, &c."

The three documents above-mentioned are now transcribed
in extensOy partly owing to their importance in the history of
Briefe, and partly to their interest as Devonshire documents,
and being comparatively unknown. 9

I. Letter op Privy Council.

" After our very hearty Commendations to your good Lordships,
whereas Captaine Richard Whitbourne of Ifamouth, in the County
of Deuon, Gentleman hauing spent much time in New-found land

8 Reg. StaL Co. ed. Abber, iv. 40, 158.

9 They have been copied from the originals in Whitbourne's work. The
first two are reprinted in T. Whitburn's Westtoard Hot for Avalon
(1870), 82-4. Trie Bishop's circular letter is believed to be a unique copy ;
probably one similar to it was sent by the other Bishops to the Clergy in
each of their respective dioceses.

342 DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS.

(whither he hath made sundry voyages, and some by expresse
Commissions) hath set down in wryting diuers good observations
and notes touching the state and condition of that Country, and
the plantation there, which being by order from vs now printed :
It is desired to be published throughout the Kingdome, for the
furthering and aduancement of the said plantation, and to giue in-
couragement to such as shalbe willing to aduenture therein, and
assist the same, either in their persons or otherwise, to which we
thinke the publication of this Booke may much conduce : And we
doe giue good approbation to his good indeauours and purpose. So
haue we thought fit, earnestly to recommend him vnto your Lord-
ships good fauours, both for the distribution of his Books within
the Prouinces of Canterbury and Yorke, vnto the seuerall Parishes
thereof, and also for your Lordships helpe and furtherance, that
after his great trauels and charges, wherein he hath spent much of
his time and meanes, hauing long time been a Merchant of good
estate, he may reape by your Lordships assistance some profit of
his labours, and towards the printing and distributing the said
Bookes by such a voluntary contribution, as shalbe willingly
giuen and collected for him within the seuerall Parish Churches
of the said Prouinces : which will be both a good incouragement
vnto others in the like indeuours for the seruice of their Country,
and some reward to him for his great charge, trauels, and diuers
losses at Sea which he hath receiued, as we are credibly certified.
And so commending him earnestly to your good Lordships, We
bid your Lordships very heartily farewell.

"From Whitehall the last day of Iune 1621."

IL Letter of the Kino.

"At Theobalds, the 12 of Aprill, 1622.

" His Majesty is graciously pleased, That the Lords Archbishops
of Canterbury and Yorke, doe in their seuerall Prouinces proceed
according to the Letters of the Lords of the Councell, bearing
date the last of Iune, 1621, as well in recommending Captaine
Whitbournes discourse concerning New-found-land, so as the same
may be distributed to the seuerall Parishes of this Kingdome, for
the incouragement of Aduenturers into the Plantation there; As
also by furthering (in the most fauorable and effectual manner
they can) the collections to be thereupon made in all the said
Parishes, towards the charge of printing and distributing those
Bookes, and the said Captaine Whitbournes good indeuours, and
seruice, with expence of his time and meanes in the aduancing
of the said Plantation ; and his seuerall great losses receiued at
Sea by Pyrats and otherwise, of which his Maiesty hath beene
credibly certified. And further his Maiesties pleasure is, that the
said Captaine Whitbourne shall haue the sole printing of his booke
for one-and-twenty yeares. « Qod 8ave the King»

DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS. 343

III. Circular Letter op the Bishop of London.

" George, by the diuine prouidence, Bishop of London : To all
and singuler Archdeacons, Deanes, and their Officials,
Parsons, Vicars, Curates, Churchwardens ; and to all other
Ecclesiastical 1 Officers and Ministers within my Diocesse
of Winton1 [sic], and the seuerall Parishes thereof,
Greeting

" Whereas Letters haue been lately addressed vnto vs from the
most Reuerend Father in God, the Lord Archbishop of Canter-
burie his Grace, recommending, according vnto speciall directions
by him receiued from his Maiesty and the Lords of the most
Honourable Priuie Councell, the publication of a Discourse
written by Captaine Richard Whitbourne, concerning New-
found-land, and a Collection to be thereupon made in all the
seuerall Parishes within this Kingdome of England. And that
by my selfe and my Officers I would giue my best furtherance
thereunto. Now, forasmuch as the publication of the said Dis-
course tends principally to the aduancement of his Maiesties
Plantation already there begun, by inciting Aduenturers there-
unto, as well for the propagation of the Gospell in that Countrey,
as also for many great benefits that may be there gotten to all such
as will be Aduenturers therein ; and likewise for the generall good
and inriching of the whole Kingjdome, and not be any way
burdensome, or hurtfull to any of his Maiesties subiects, as by
the Discourse it selfe, herewith sent vnto you, doth more at large
appeare ; And for that his Maiesty and the Lords of the Councell
haue so well approoued the said Captaines good endeuours herein,
as to recommend him in an extraordinary manner; That towards
his great trauels, charge, and expence of time, with seuerall
Commissions, and otherwise in this businesse ; and towards the
Printing and free distributing his Bookes, and his seuerall great
losses receiued at Sea by Pirate and otherwise, in aduenturing
to further the said Plantation, and partly discouering the good
which may come therby vnto all his Maiesties subiects; The
voluntary bounties of all his Maiesties subiects should be collected
to his vse and behoofe, as by their Lordships Letters, and his
Maiesties pleasure thereupon signified, which is Printed in the
forepart of the Booke, doth appeare. These are therefore to
pray and require you my Brethren of the Ministery, in your
seuerall Parish Churches and Chappels, thorowout my Diocesse
of London ; That within one Moneth next after the said Captaine
Whitbournes Booke, with this my Letter, which I doe allow to be
Printed, shall be by him, his Assignee or Assignes, brought
vnto any of you, you signifie vnto your Parishioners in so

1 This mistake of "Winton" for London, confirms the probability of the
form and contents of tho Bishops' Letters, being similar in each diocese.

344 DEVONSHIRE BRIEFS.

friendly and effectuall manner as possible you can, vpon some
Sabbath day, in the time of Diuine Service, and when no other
Collection is to be made, this my Letter, and the scope and intent
of his Discourse, and seriously stir up and exhort them to extend
their bountifull liberality herein; which you the Churchwardens
are to collect, after the due and vsuall manner from seate to seate,
and such of the Parishioners as shall be then absent, to collect
their gratuities at their houses, and ioyntly with the Minister
endorse the summe and place where it is collected, in letters, and
not in figures, vpon these Letters, and then speedily returne both
the Money and Letters, vnto Mr. Robert Christian, Gent, at his
house in Knight-rider-street, neere the Cathedrall Church of
S. Paid in London, whom the said Captaine Whitbourne hath
intreated to receiue the same to his vse; that all such money
and Letters may be speedely redeliuered ouer

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